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Timothy  Leary 

Jail  Notes 

with  an  introduction  by  Allen  Ginsbers 


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TIMOTHY  LEARY 
JAIL  NOTES 


TIMOTHY  LEARY 
JAIL  NOTES 

INTRODUCTION  BY 

ALLEN  GINSBERG 


GROVE  PRESS,  INC.,  NEW  YORK 


Copyright  ©  1970  by  Timothy  Leary  and  the  Douglas  Book  Corporation 

"Preface  to  Dr.  Leary's  Jail  Notes"  copyright  @  1970  by  Allen  Ginsberg 

All  Rights  Reserved 

No  portion  of  this  book  may  be  reproduced  for  any  reason,  by 

any  means,  including  any  method  of  photographic  reproduction, 

without  permission  from  the  publisher. 

Library  of  Congress  Catalog  Card  Number:  70-142526 

First  Zebra  Books  Edition,  1972 

First  Printmg 

Manufactured  in  the  United  States  of  America 

DESIGNERS:  BOB  CATO  AND  IRA  FRIEDUVNDER 

The  photograph  on  page  118  is  by  Victor  Pilisoff.  All  other  photographs 
acquired  from  the  Timothy  Leary  Archives.  Photographers'  names  unobtainable. 


The  first  section  of  Allen  Ginsberg's  introduction  appeared  originally  in  The  Village 
Voice  and  is  reprinted  with  permission  of  The  Village  Voice.  Copyright  by  The 
Village  Voice,  Inc.,  1968. 

The  quotes  from  Necessary  Doubt  by  Colin  Wilson  are  reprinted  with  permission 
of  the  author.  Necessary  Doubt  is  published  by  Arthur  Barker  Limited.  Copyright 
by  Colin  Wilson,  1964. 

The  quote  from  Venture  to  the  Interior  by  Laurens  Van  Der  Post  is  reprinted  with 
permission  of  William  Morrow  and  Company,  Inc.  Copyright  1951  by  Laurens 
Van  Der  Post. 

The  quote  from  The  World  of  Washington  Irving  by  Van  Wyck  Brooks  is  reprinted 
with  permission  of  the  publisher,  E.  P.  Dutton  and  Company,  Inc.  Copyright  1944 
1950  by  Van  Wyck  Brooks. 

The  quotes  from  The  Catholic  Encyclopedia  are  reprinted  with  permission  of  the 
Catholic  University  of  America.  Copyright  1910  by  Robert  Appleton  and  Company. 

The  quote  from  "In  Praise  of  Johnny  Appleseed"  by  Vachel  Lindsay  is  reprinted 
with  permission  of  The  Macmillan  Company.  From  Collected  Poems  by  Vachel 
Lindsay.  Copyright  1923  by  the  Macmillan  Company,  renewed  1951  by  Elizabeth 
C.  Lindsay. 

The  quote  from  Man  and  the  Stars  by  Harlan  Stetson  is  reprinted  with  permission 
of  the  McGraw-Hill  Book  Company.  Copyright  1930  by  McGraw-Hill  Book  Company 
Inc. 

The  quote  from  7/Vr?e  is  reprinted  by  permission  from  7/me,  The  Weekly  News- 
magazine. Copyright  Time,  Inc.  1970. 

The  quote  from  "House  Burning  Down"  by  Jimi  Hendrix  is  reprinted  with  permission 
of  the  composer.  Copyright  1968  Bella  Godiva  Music,  Inc. 

The  quote  from  "Our  Love  Is  Here  To  Stay"  by  George  and  Ira  Gershwin  is  used  by 
permission  of  Chappell  &  Co.,  Inc.  Copyright  1938  by  Gershwin  Publishing  Corp. 
Copyright  renewed. 


Preface  to  Dr.  Leary's  Jail  Notes 

by  ALLEN  GINSBERG 

6 

1.     JAIL  NOTES 

16 

2.     BODYGUARD 

118 

3.     THE  FOUR  THOUSAND  YEAR  OLD 

ROCK  AND  ROLL  BAND: 

A  MEMORY  EXPERIENCED 

130 

4.     STAR  TRIP  FOR  RO 

150 

ff  What's  going  on 
in  his  head? 
...Well, jail's  honed 
him  down  to  rib  &  soul.^^ 

ALLEN  GINSBERG 


PREFACE  TO  DR.  LEARY'S  JAIL  NOTES 


By  the  late  '40s  of  this  memory  Century  the  people  I  knew 
best  and  loved  most  had  already  broken  thru  the  crust  of 
old  Reasons  &  were  dowsing  for  some  Supreme  Reality,  Christ- 
mas on  Earth  Rimbaud  said,  Second  Religiousness  according 
to  Spengler's  outline  of  civilization  declining  through  prolifera- 
tion of  non-human  therefore  boring  technology;  Blake  had 
called  "O  Earth  O  Earth  return!"  centuries  before,  echoing  the 
ancient  gnostic  prophecy  that  Whitman  spelled  out  for  America 
specifically  demanding  that  the  Steam-engine  "be  confronted 
and  met  by  at  least  an  equally  subtle  and  tremendous  force- 
infusion  for  purposes  of  spirituallzation,  for  the  pure  con- 
science, for  genuine  aesthetics,  and  for  absolute  and  primal 
manliness  and  womanliness — "  Ezra  Pound's  mind  jumped  to 
diagnose  the  dimming  of  the  world's  third  Eye:  "With  Usura 
the  line  grows  thick." 

One  scholar  who  transmitted  Blake's  kabbalah,  S.  Foster 
Damon,  can  remember  his  sudden  vision  of  tiny  flowers  car- 
peting Harvard  Yard  violet  before  World  War  One,  an  Image 
that  lingers  over  90  years  in  mind  since  his  fellow  student 
Virgil  Thomson  gave  him  the  cactus  Peyote  to  eat.  Damon 
concludes  that  rare  beings  like  Blake  are  born  with  physiologic 
gift  of  such  vision,  continuous  or  Intermittent.  William  James, 
whose  pragmatic  magic  probably  called  the  Peyote  God  to 
Harvard  in  the  first  place,  had  included  shamanistic  chemical 
visions  among  the  many  authentic  "Varieties  of  Religious  Ex- 
perience." His  student  Gertrude  Stein  experimented  in  altera- 
tion of  consciousness  through  mindfulness  of  language,  an 
extremely  effective  Yoga  since  mechanical  reproduction  of 
language  by  XX  Century  had  made  language  the  dominant 
vehicle  of  civilized  consciousness;  her  companion  Alice  B. 
Toklas  contributed  a  cookbook  recipe  for  Hashish  Brownies  to 
enlighten  those  persons  over-talkative  in  drawing  rooms  un- 
aware that  "the  medium  is  the  message." 

This  synchronism  is  exquisite:  William  S,  Burroughs  also 
once  of  Harvard  shared  Miss  Stein's  mindfulness  of  the  hyp- 
notic drug-like  power  of  language,  and  collaborated  on  cut-up 
rearrangement  of  stereotyped  language  forms  with  friend  Brion 
Gysin,  who  had  originally  given  Miss  Toklas  the  recipe  for  her 
famous  Brownies.  Burroughs  among  others  had  begun  experi- 
ments with  drug-shamanism  after  World  War  Two — for  the 
author  of  "Naked  Lunch"  it  was  a  pragmatic  extension  of  his 
Cambridge  interest  in  linguistic  Anthropology.  That  same  gnos- 
tic impulse  broke  through  to  clear  consciousness  simulta- 
neously in  many  American  cities:  Gary  Snyder  realized  the 
entire  universe  was  alive  one  daybreak  1948  in  Portland  when 


a  flight  of  birds  rose  out  of  the  tree  stillness  in  a  gully  by  the 
city  river,  a  natural  vision — The  masters  of  the  Berkeley  Renais- 
sance read  Gertrude  Stein  aloud  and  practiced  Poetic  kabbalah 
(charming  synchronism  that  psychologist  Timothy  Leary  met 
poets  Jack  Spicer  and  Robert  Duncan  in  that  same  1948  stu- 
dent scene) — Neal  Cassady  drove  Jack  Kerouac  to  Mexico  in 
a  prophetic  automobile  to  see  the  physical  body  of  America, 
the  same  Denver  Cassady  that  one  decade  later  drove  Ken 
Kesey's  Kosmos-pattered  schoolbus  on  a  Kafka-circus  tour 
over  the  roads  of  the  awakening  nation — And  that  wakening 
began,  some  say,  with  the  first  saxophone  cry  of  the  new  mode 
of  black  music  which  shook  the  walls  of  white  city  mind  when 
Charles  Parker  lifted  his  birdflightnoted  horn  &  announced  a 
new  rhythm  of  thinking,  an  extended  breathing  of  the  body  in 
music  and  speech,  a  new  consciousness.  For  as  Plato  had 
said,  "When  the  mode  of  the  music  changes,  the  walls  of  the 
city  shake." 

The  new  consciousness  born  in  these  States  can  be  traced 
back  through  old  gnostic  texts,  visions,  artists  &  shamans;  it 
is  the  consciousness  of  our  ground  nature  suppressed  &  dese- 
crated. It  was  always  the  secret  tale  of  the  tribe  in  America, 
this  great  scandal  of  the  closing  of  the  doors  of  perception  of 
the  Naked  Human  Form  Divine.  It  began  with  the  white  murder 
of  Indian  inhabitants  of  the  ground,  the  theft  and  later  usurious 
exploitation  of  their  land,  it  continued  with  an  assault  on  all 
races  and  species  of  Mother  Nature  herself  and  concludes 
today  with  total  disruption  of  the  ecology  of  the  entire  planet. 
No  wonder  black  slaves  kept  for  non-human  use  into  this  cen- 
tury in  tear-gassed  ghettos  of  megalopolis  were  the  first  Aliens 
to  sound  the  horn  of  Change,  the  first  Strangers  to  Call  the 
Great  Call  through  Basilides'  many  Heavens.  Amazing  syn- 
chronism again,  that  Mr.  Frank  Takes  Gun,  Native  American 
Church  amerindian  Peyote  Chief,  invited  the  brilliantly  talkative 
silver-haired  psychiatrist  who  directed  a  Saskatchewan  mental 
hospital  in  the  early  '40s  to  participate  in  a  Peyote  ritual,  and 
that  the  same  Dr.  Humphrey  Osmond  having  recognized  a 
wonder  of  consciousness  thus  experienced  passed  on  the 
catalyst  in  Mescaline  synthetic  form  to  Aldous  Huxley;  and 
that  Huxley's  1945  essay  on  the  chemical  opening  of  the  Doors 
of  Perception  found  its  way  to  the  tables  of  Bickford's  Cafeteria 
Times  Square  New  York  &  the  couches  of  Reed  College  and 
Berkeley,  where  artist  persons,  having  heard  the  Great  Call 
of  the  Negroes,  already  initiated  thertiselves  en  masse  to  subtle 
gradations  of  their  own  consciousness  experienced  while  smok- 


jng  the  same  Afric  hemp  smoked  by  Charles  Parker  Thelonious 
Monk  &  Dizzy  Gillespie. 

Dr.  Timothy  Leary  takes  up  his  part  of  the  tale  of  the  tribe 
In  a  Mexican  hut  and  brings  his  discovery  to  Harvard  harmoni- 
ously— and  there  begins  the  political  battle,  black  and  white 
magic  become  public  visible  for  a  generation.  Dr.  Leary  is  a 
hero  of  American  consciousness.  He  began  as  a  sophisticated 
academician,  he  encountered  discoveries  in  his  field  which 
confounded  him  and  his  own  technology,  he  pursued  his 
studies  where  attention  commanded,  he  arrived  beyond  the 
boundaries  of  public  knowledge.  One  might  hesitate  to  say, 
like  Socrates,  like  Galileo? — poor  Dr.  Leary,  poor  Earth!  Yet 
here  we  are  in  Science  Fiction  History,  in  the  age  of  Hydrogen 
Bomb  Apocalypse,  the  very  Kali  Yuga  wherein  man's  stupidity 
so  overwhelms  the  planet  that  ecological  catastrophe  begins 
to  rehearse  old  tribe-tales  of  Karmaic  retribution.  Fire  &  Flood 
&  Armageddon  Impending. 

It  would  be  natural  (in  fact  deja  vu)  that  the  very  technology 
stereotyping  our  consciousness  &  desensitizing  our  percep- 
tions should  throw  up  its  own  antidote,  an  antidote  synthetic 
such  as  LSD  synchronous  with  mythic  tribal  Soma  &  Peyote. 
Given  such  historic  Comedy,  who  could  emerge  from  Harvard 
technology  but  one  and  only  Dr.  Leary,  a  respectable  human 
being,  a  worldly  man  faced  with  the  task  of  a  Messiah.  Inevi- 
table! Not  merely  because  the  whole  field  of  mental  psychology 
as  a  "science"  had  arrived  at  biochemistry  anyway.  It  was 
Inevitable  because  the  whole  professional  civilized  world,  like 
Dr.  Leary,  was  already  faced  with  the  Messianic  task  of  acceler- 
ated evolution  (i.  e.,  psychosocial  Revolution)  including  an  alter- 
ation of  human  consciousness  leading  to  the  immediate  muta- 
tion of  social  &  economic  forms.  This  staggering  realization, 
psychedelic,  1.  e.,  consciousness  expanding  &  mind-manifesting 
in  itself,  without  the  use  of  chemical  catalysts,  is  now  forced  on 
all  of  us  by  images  of  our  own  unconscious  rising  from  the 
streets  of  Chicago,  where  city  teargas  was  dumped  on  Christ's 
very  Cross  in  Lincoln  Park  AD  1968.  The  drains  are  backing 
up  in  the  cities,  smog  noise  and  physiologic  poison  in  food 
turn  us  to  insect  acts,  overpopulation  crazes  the  planet,  our 
lakes  corrupt,  old  riverways  become  dank  fens,  tanks  enter 
Prague  and  Chicago  streets  simultaneous,  Police  State  arrives 
in  every  major  city,  starvation  wastes  African  provinces,  Chi- 
nese genocide  in  Tibet  mirrors  American  genocide  in  Vietnam, 
Alarm!  Alarm!  howls  deep  as  any  Biblic  prophecy. 

Ourselves  caught  in  the  giant  machine  are  conditioned  to  its 


terms,  only  holy  vision  or  technological  catastrophe  or  revolu- 
tion break  "the  mind-forg'd  manacles."  Given  one  by-product 
of  the  technology  that  might,  as  it  were  by  feed-back,  correct 
the  berserk  machine  and  liberate  the  inventor's  mind  from 
captivity  by  hypnotic  robots,  Dr.  Leary  had  in  LSD  an  invaluable 
civilized  elixir.  For,  as  Dr.  Jiri  Roubichek  observed  early  in 
Prague  ("Artificial  Psychosis,"  1958),  "LSD  inhibits  conditioned 
reflexes."  And  this  single  phrase,  for  rational  men,  might  be 
the  key  to  the  whole  gnostic  mystery  of  LSD  and  Dr.  Leary's 
role  as  unique,  alas  solitary,  courageous,  humane  &  frank 
Democratic  Boddhisatva-teacher  of  the  uses  of  LSD  in  America. 
For  he  took  on  himself  the  noble  task  of  announcing  the  evi- 
dence of  his  senses  despite  the  scary  contumely  of  fellow  acad- 
emicians, the  dispraising  timorous  irony  of  scientific  "pro- 
fessionals," the  stupidity  meanness  self-serving  cowardice  and 
hollow  vanity  of  bureaucratic  personnel  from  Harvard  Yard  to 
Mexico  City  to  Washington,  from  the  ignorant  Sheriff's  office 
in  Dutchess  County  NY  to  the  inner  greedy  sanctums  of  the 
US  Treasury  Department  in  D.  C,  our  whole  "establishment" 
of  civilization  that  defends  us  from  knowledge  of  our  own 
unconscious  by  means  of  policemen's  clubs,  and  would  resist 
the  liberation  of  our  minds  and  bodies  by  any  brutish  means 
available  including  teargas,  napalm  &  the  Hydrogen  Bomb. 

Dr.  Leary  conducted  himself  fairly  &  equitably,  given  the 
extremity  of  his  knowledge;  it  took  an  innocent  courage  to 
explore  his  own  unconditioned  consciousness,  to  take  LSD  and 
other  chemicals  often  enough  to  be  well  balanced  in  praxis 
as  well  as  explanation,  and  to  attempt  to  wed  the  enormity  of 
his  experience  to  Reason.  An  heroic  attempt  to  communicate 
clearly  and  openly  through  civilized  technologic  media  to  his 
fellow  citizens,  despite  centuries  of  identity  brainwash  accel- 
erated now  to  mass  paranoia  and  Cold  War  Apocalypse,  re- 
quired of  Dr.  Leary  the  proverbial  wisdom  of  serpent  &  harm- 
lessness  of  dove. 

Timothy  Leary  tells  the  tale  of  his  tribe  in  book  aptly  titled 
The  Politics  of  Ecstasy,  &  events  enlarged  since  he  wrote 
his  book  and  chose  its  title  charge  the  author's  handiwork 
with  prophetic  enormity.  The  battle  of  generations  that  erupted 
in  1968  simultaneously  in  Prague,  Chicago,  Mexico  City,  Paris, 
New  York  (and  Moscow  underground) — everywhere  the  State's 
electronic  consciousness  is  interlinked — transcended  antique 
battles  of  Cold  War  and  Race.  We  witness  planetary  confronta- 
tion wherein  controlling  Elders  trapped  in  a  suicidal  mechan- 
ical consciousness  deploy  their  destructive  technology  against 
their  own  children  in  the  streets  of  their  own  cities.  Tis  Blake's 


10 


Urizen  tormenting  tender  Los  in  Eternity!  New  generations 
have  risen  spontaneous  with  new  consciousness  and  a  mutant 
politics  of  flower  power  that  is  rooted  in  the  ground  of  human 
consciousness  itself:  an  acceptance  of  human  identity  as  one 
with  living  nature  on  a  living  planet  where  all  creatures  are 
living  God.  The  public  philosophies  and  technologies  of  all 
civilized  Governments  at  present  are  at  war  with  this  God, 
and  the  planet  itself  is  within  decades  of  destruction.  No  won- 
der there  is  sudden  appearance  of  Adamic  hair.  Eve  walks 
naked  in  the  streets;  ancient  body-rhythms  beat  out  thru  the 
airwaves  in  electric  mantric  Rock  from  Bratislava  to  San  Fran- 
cisco, &  youths  ingest  shamanic  elixirs  to  recover  conscious- 
ness of  planetary  Archtypes.  Hare  Krishna! 

One  politic  synchronism  that  concerns  this  text  should  be 
gossiped  forth  contextual.  Timothy  Leary  quit  public  life  to 
write  a  book  in  Mexico  some  years  ago  but  he  was  searched 
by  Agents  of  Government  as  he  went  to  cross  borders,  arrested 
for  possession  of  some  herb,  and  thus  forced  to  interrupt  his 
writing,  returned  to  public  action,  and  defend  his  person  from 
attack  by  the  State.  So  he  traveled  to  academies  and  lectured 
to  the  young,  &  thus  he  paid  large  legal  fees  required  by  the 
State  &  thus  maintained  an  Ashram  of  fellow  seekers  well 
known  in  Millbrook.  Agents  of  Government  then  raided  and 
repeatedly  abused  the  Millbrook  Utopia,  whereupon  Dr.  Leary 
was  obliged  to  be  Dr.  Leary  and  lecture  more  to  raise  money 
for  his  family  of  imprisoned  friends.  Agents  of  Government 
concluded  this  phase  of  prosecution  with  a  piece  of  Socratic 
irony  so  blatantly  echoing  an  old  Greek  injustice  that  the 
vulgar  rhetoric  of  a  Tyrannous  State  would  need  only  be 
quoted  to  be  recognized,  were  it  not  for  the  fact  that  these 
States  are  by  now  so  plagued  with  Tyrannously  inspired  chaos 
and  public  communication  so  flooded  with  images  of  State 
Atrocity  from  the  alleys  of  Saigon  to  the  parks  of  Chicago  that 
official  public  conscience  here  now,  as  memorably  in  Russia 
and  Germany,  is  shocked,  dumbed  &  amnesiac.  I  quote  from 
the  Spring  1968  State  Document  in  any  case  for  the  delectation 
of  gnostic  Cognoscenti,  that  is  to  say  myriads  of  the  present 
young:  , 

"To  Hon.  Edw.  W.  Wadsworth 
Clerk,  U.S.  Court  of  Appeals 
for  the  Fifth  Circuit 
Room  408 — 400  Royal  Street 
New  Orleans,  La.  70130 
"Re:  No.  23570 


Timothy  Leary 

— Vs — United  States  of  America 

".  .  .  We  are  applying  for  an  order  from  the  District  Court 
requiring  the  Defendant  to  surrender  to  the  United  States 
Marshal  .  .  . 

'The  appellant  continues  his  publicized  activities  involving 
the  advocacy  of  the  use  of  psychedelic  drugs  by  students  and 
others  of  immature  judgment  and  tender  years  and  is  regarded 
as  a  menace  to  the  community  so  long  as  he  is  at  large  .  .  . 

Very  truly  yours, 
Morton  L.  Sussman 
United  States  Attorney 
By:  James  R.  Gough 
Asst.  U.S.  ATTY. 
Chief,  Appeals  Research  Division" 

Thus  requesting  revocation  of  Dr.  Leary's  bail'd  liberty  while 
his  political-religious  defense  for  possession  of  an  herb  ap- 
proached Supreme  Court,  Agents  of  Government  checked 
further  conversation  with  the  young.  The  Millbrook  Ashram 
having  been  simultaneously  dispersed  by  Agents  of  Govern- 
ment, his  immediate  financial  responsibilities  lightened,  Tim- 
othy Leary  retired  back  home  to  Berkeley  with  his  mate  and 
completed  his  description  of  The  Politics  of  Ecstasy. 

A  twin  book,  High  Priest,  was  also  finished  during  this  period 
of  relative  freedom  1968;  in  High  Priest  Dr.  Leary  composed 
letters  anecdotes  conversations  and  personal  letters  together 
into  a  number  of  chapters  concerning  friends  and  colleagues 
in  worlds  of  science  and  art,  &  presented  his  history  of  con- 
sciousness-altering drug  Fate  in  the  course  of  a  decade's  offi- 
cial and  unofficial  experiments  from  Mexico  thru  Harvard  thru 
Millbrook.  His  prose  by  now  more  supple  than  before,  the 
book's  collage  structure  contains  generous  exegesis  of  the 
persons  and  events  of  a  psychedelic  brotherhood  and  scienti- 
fic confreres  that  altered  the  consciousness  of  that  American 
decade. 

Next  year  his  legal  appeal  reached  the  Supreme  Court,  in 
May  1969  the  Law  under  which  he  was  arrested  was  ruled 
unconstitutional.  Government  attack  on  his  person  continued, 
&  Dr.  Leary  was  arrested  and  subsequently  tried,  convicted 
and  sentenced  to  ten  years  without  appeal  bail  by  Judge  Byron 
McMillan  of  Orange  County  for  possession  of  two  marijuana 
cigarette  stubs  planted  in  his  car  ashtray  by  a  California  police- 
man. Federal  authorities  meanwhile  chose  to  retry  Dr.  Leary 
on  his  Laredo  arrest  on  another  technicality,  this  time  not  for 


12 


failure  to  report  natural  grass  for  government  tax,  but  on  the 
charge  of  "transporting"  a  smidgeon  of  marijuana  the  few 
hundred  yeards  from  the  middle  of  the  International  Bridge 
to  the  Customs  Shed  where  he  had  been  detained  years  earlier. 
Convicted  in  Texas  trial,  Judge  Ben  Connally  sentenced  our 
philosopher  to  ten  years  also;  both  sentences  set  consecu- 
tively, bail  denied,  Dr.  Leary  at  time  of  present  writing  has  been 
jailed  in  California  since  February  19,  1970.  Terminology  of 
both  judges  agreed  with  government  lawyers'  boorish  language 
that  Dr.  Leary  was  a  "menace  to  the  community."  Bail  denial 
was  successfully  appealed  in  the  Texas  case,  and  as  of  August 
7,  1970  bail  will  (perhaps)  be  granted  by  some  Supreme  Court 
for  California  despite  United  States  Attorneys  obnoxious  plea 
that  our  philosopher  "represents  a  danger  to  other  persons 
and  to  the  community."* 

The  text  of  United  States  of  America,  Appellee's  OPPOSI- 
TION TO  APPLICATION  FOR  BAIL  PENDING  APPEAL  con- 
tained the  following  hideous  paragraph  II  (e)  "Attached  hereto 
as  Exhibit  D-1  is  a  copy  of  an  article  purportedly  authored  by 
Timothy  Leary  in  Playboy  magazine  in  which  he  discussed 
the  facts  giving  rise  to  the  case  at  bar,  and  which  bears  also 
upon  his  aims  and  activities  which  are  the  basis  for  the  Gov- 
ernment's opposition  to  his  release  on  bail."  Further  docu- 
ments appended  included  Dr.  Leary's  pacifist  testimony  at 
the  celebrated  Chicago  Conspiracy  trial,  &  news  reports  of 
various  university  lectures  including  one  at  Ann  Arbor,  Michi- 
gan early  1970  whereat  Dr.  Leary  discoursed  to  raise  funds 
for  legal  appeals  for  the  poet  John  Sinclair  also  jailed  for 
several  decades  and  denied  appeal  bail  after  conviction  a 
year  earlier  for  having  been  entrapped  by  a  local  bearded 
agent  who'd  infiltrated  the  Detroit  Artist's  Workshop.  Another 
disgusting  document  appended  was  a  secret  agent's  report  to 
the  Laguna  Beach  Police  Department  "concerning  additional 
suspects  involved  in  the  BROTHERHOOD  OF  RELIGIOUS 
LOVE.  Refer  to  attached  report  for  additional  details." 

Such  a  hexed  country!  "Judge  McMillan  labeled  Leary  an 
insidious  and  detrimental  influence  on  society,"  quoth  L.A. 
Times  February  20,  1970,  and  "a  pleasure  seeking,  irrespon- 
sible Madison  Avenue  advocate  of  the  free  use  of  LSD,"  quoth 
Long  Beacti  Press  March  17  same  year. 

Suffering  armed  fools  cheerfully,  Dr.  Leary's  made  an  exquis- 
ite religious  covenant  in  jail.  "Imprinting"  as  ontological  key  Is 

*Bail  was  not  granted.  Dr.  Leary  left  San  Luis  Obispo  jail  months  later,  on 
his  own  initiative. — A.G. 


13 


suggested,  &  re-imprinting  via  Biological  mouth-intake  (food 
chemistry)  is  proposed  as  proper  philosophic  action.  Hardly 
an  affair  of  State — were  we  only  to  know  State  in  theory. 
Leary's  jail  texts  economically  define  use  and  role  of  LSD; 
here's  formal  psychological  discussion  of  character-alteration 
by  means  of  insight-creating  drugs,  such  discussion  related  to 
Socrates'  discussion  at  deathbed  &  texts  on  Catholic  Hell 
Punishment,  these  juxtaposed  with  Judiciary  reality  of  Jail 
society;  all  accomplished  in  professional  manner  with  saintly 
aplomb. 

What's  going  on  in  his  head?  Day  to  day  observation  of 
Heavy  Metal  Fix — the  inside  facts  of  jail — compassionate 
shrewd  analysis  of  Manson  as  jail-conditioned  soul.  A  few 
gists  &  piths:  "Psychopharmacology  plus  bio-rhythmic  se- 
quential analysis — Alchemy  &  Astrology."  Dr.  Leary's  notes 
include  disquisitions  on  Hell  from  Church  Fathers  paralleled 
with  prison  weather,  as  if  prison  were. that  Hell  spoken  of  old 
incarnate  now  in  minds  of  State  Judge  &  Jailers — thoughts  In- 
terleaved with  quotations  from  official  rejection  letters  in 
legalese  why  some  of  his  messages  and  letters  aren't  mailed 
thru  jail  walls.  Dr.  Leary  touches  a  few  political  nerves — J.  E. 
Hoover  "a  75  year  old  bachelor  virgin."  (Actually,  Sir  Tim  and 
Anyone,  Hoover,  an  ear-voyeur,  had  tapes  of  M.  L.  King,  tapes 
of  a  "wild  party."  King  was  afraid  Hoover'd  "do  something 
foolish  &  play  It  In  public."  He  did,  to  newsmen  and  various 
lawmakers  and  wire  service  folk — no  one  was  interested  in 
his  tired  blackmail — Invasion  of  privacy  anyway.) 

Dr.  Leary's  Jail  Notes  make  a  science  fiction  classic,  Orwell 
come  true.  As  Neal  Cassady  also'd  spent  2  years  in  San 
Quentin  a  decade  earlier,  entrapped  by  shifty  Narcotics  Agents 
for  a  joint. 

An  answer  to  this  tough  problem  of  human  aggression?  Med- 
icine, 3  lumps  hashish  daily  quiet  75%  of  Aggressiveness.  This 
fact  courtesy  U.S.  Arms  Control  Disarmament  experiments 
Princeton  1970. 

Dr.  Leary's  in  jail  for  theory  and  practice  of  research  on 
LSD  &  Cannabis.  A  shame  on  Harvard,  on  the  Academics  of 
America,  &  on  the  State.  "His  prophecies,"  like  those  of  Hip- 
pocrates he  paraphrases,  "and  his  techniques  with  potions, 
if  become  widespread,  would  totally  free  each  individual  from 
State  control  and  make  possible  complete  liberty  of  conscious- 
ness." And  the  blessings  of  Sri  Krishna  Prem  on  you! 

Dr.  Leary  has  taken  the  burden  of  giving  honest  report  of 
LSD  &  Cannabis  In  terms  more  accurate  &  harmless  than  the 
faked  science  of  the  Government  Party  Hacks  &  therefore  his 


14 


imprisonment  is  an  act  of  insult  to  Science,  Liberty,  Common 
Sense,  Freedom,  Academy,  Philosophy,  Medicine,  Psychology 
as  an  Art,  and  Poetry  as  a  tradition  of  human  mind-vision. 
Well,  jail's  honed  him  down  to  rib  &  soul. 

November,  1968  and  August,  1970 


15 


JAIL  NOTES 


f  f  Barking  with  pleasure 
to  see  famed  wild 
captive.  Blacks  shout, 
'Hey  Tim. 
We  gotta  talk  to  you.^^ 


r^ebruary  25     70     Orange  County 

Is  there  a  library  here? 

No.  Books  are  contraband. 

No  books! 

Well  there  are  some  floating  around.  They  circulate  round 
a  tier  then  disappear. 

Magazines? 

Yeah.  They  come  into  the  office  but  the  guards  rip  them  off 
and  take  them  home. 

Are  there  any  books  on  our  tier? 

Yeah.  Three. 

In  dark  of  night  detective  story  smuggled  me.  Read  twice 
next  day. 

What's  the  second  book? 

A  Burnt  Out  Case  by  Graham  Greene.  Read  it  five  times. 
Marveling  that  this  rare  vessel  of  sensitive  Intelligence  should 
find  its  way  into  metal  maze  labyrinth. 

Where  the  third  book? 

In  dark  of  night  receive  T/ie  Confessions  of  St.  Augustine. 
Rock  breaking  laborous  reading.  Unpleasant  Portnoy's  Com- 
pliance. St.  Monica  original  Jewish  mother.  Follows  her 
naughty  lover  boy  from  Africa  to  Middle  East.  Pragging  and 
paying  for  him.  St.  Gus  finally  gets  to  be  a  doctor.  Good  gov- 
ernment job  lived  happily  forever  and  ever  and  ever  and 
afterward  with  Mom.  In  heaven  with  Mother.  SnItch-fink. 

In  next  tier  dwealth  roly-poly  middle-jowled  businessman. 
Baby  raper.  Caught  giving  head  to  his  daughty  naughter.  He's 
got  books.  He's  always  first  in  line  for  chow. 

I  ear  you  got  some  books. 

Eyes  narrow  bargain  tastement.  Yeah.  Whatta  you  got  to 
swap?  Swap?  I  just  want  to  borrow  a  book  or  two  for  a  day  or 
three.  Well  I  don't  loan  books.  There  mine.  I  swap  or  sell  them. 
Oh  you  so  greedy.  How  do  you  get  to  own  them. 

He  slide  me  an  Orange  County  you  must  be  some  kind  of 
Communist  or  nut  look.  Never  mind  how  I  got  them.  What  you 
got  to  swap?  I  got  some  good  ones.  ' 

Genesis  of  capitalism.  Gods  goods  flow  easily  among  care- 
free natives  until  some  clever  jowly,  first-in-line-chow-belly 
child  molester  starts  hoarding,  creates  artificial  shortage,  stops 
free  flow  and  we're  in  business.  Property.  Why  books?  Because 
there's  little  else  to  hoard. 

Someone  gives  me  some  hash  and  I  spend  afternoon  on 
bunk  meditating.  Farenheit  451  come  true.  I  knew  we  shouldn't 


see  such  movies.  Spooky  reel  cans.  Ontological  diddling. 
Create-a-state  of  reality.  Outside,  these  men  scorn  books.  Here 
they  become  currency.  Books  forbidden.  Hunger  for  written 
word. 

There's  one  book  they  allow  us  to  have. 

Oh  yeah.  Gimme.  Gimme.  Gimme.  What  it  is? 

The  bible. 

Pre-evil  forests  of  Canada  levelled.  Crackly  ocean  of  word 
paper  inundate  continent.  Science-fiction  fascist  state  declare 
books  contraband.  Only  one  book  left.  One  cup  of  words. 

The  bible. 

The  movie  you  are  now  in  produced  by  Salvation  Army, 
directed  by  Billy  Graham.  Entitled  The  Wages  of  Gideon's 
Revenge.  Down  on  your  nease  boy.  See  who  has  the  power 
now.  Repent  sinner.  If  you  were  marooned  on  a  desert  island 
what  book  would  you  ask  for? 

Do  you  want  the  bible? 

No. 

Sit  locked  in  metal  box,  four  foot  wide,  twelve  foot  long, 
ten  foot  high.  Arrange  mattress  so  it  cushion  metal  stool.  Place 
yellow  legal  pad  on  metal  shelf  and  start  writing. 

in  the  beginning  there  was  half  a  twin-soul  in  a  self  in  a 
cell  and  the  pen-celled  words  came  writefully. 

For  nine  relays  and  wrights  by  murky  pale  shadow  glow 
sharpening  pencil  with  razor  blade  held  in  match  cardboard 
wrote  story  of  jailhouse  and  then  detailed  plan  for  overthrowing 
the  government  of  the  United  States  right  now.  Blueprint  for 
children's  revolt. 

Smoking  cigarettes  writing  in  new,  careful  legible  script, 
eating  candy  bars,  when  hand  cramp  look  at  pale  face  in 
mirror,  yoga,  fall-a-bed,  eat  meals. 

Reading  books  is  strictly  contrascated  but  writing  books  is 
worse.  Must  hide  a  peek  under  bed.  Wait  for  lawyer  smuggle 
out. 

In  the  midnite  electric  amplified  night-blare  LEARY  N-6  ON 
THE  LINE  FULL  JAIL  ISSUE  YOU  GOTTA  VISITOR.  IT'S  YOUR 
LAWYER  TAKE  YOUR  LEGAL  PAPERS  Sleep  walk  down  es- 
calator with  yellow  legal  pad.  Chula  waits  casual  debonair. 
When  guard  turns  nods  and  takes  the  papers.  Whew!  There! 
Science-fiction  Meladreamer.  Smuggling  words  out  of  prison. 

Next  week  lawyers  return.  Give  me  typewritten  copies  of 
manuscripts.  Read  your  proof.  Tuck  inside  yellow  legal  pad 
and  happy  levitate  moving  stairs  to  cell  block.  Bouncing  mer- 
rily past  guard  station  Sergeant  radar  glance.  YOU  THERE 
HALT.  Come  lumbering  out  of  glass  booth  fat  ass  khaki  lad. 
WHAT  YEW  GOT  THERE. 

18 


Well  Sergeant  just  lawyer  seen  litigation  ^constitution  re- 
appraising appeal  brief  foundation  liberation  documentation. 

Sergeant  frowning.  LEMME  SEE  THAT. 

When  Major  Andre  was  searched  the  plans  for  the  betrayal 
of  West  Point  were  found  in  his  boots.  Why  Sergeant  I  just 
happen  to  have  nothing  that  will  interest  you.  Just  a  little  article 
exposing  conditions  in  the  jail  plus  a  little  piece  on  the  over- 
throw of  the  government  with  acidulous  pen  portraits  of  Presi- 
dent, the  Vice  President,  and  the  Attorney  General  of  the  United 
States  of  America,  otherwise  known  as  the  Nation's  Top  Cop. 

Sergeant  frowning,  lips  moving  as  he  reads. 

It's  all  legal  material  attorney  donation  mandamus  nihil 
obstat  imprimatur  preparation  ratification  of  my  case.  Now 
I'll  take  it  if  you  please  returney  comes  back  soon  to  cell  I  go. 

ARE  YOU  PRO  PER? 

Well  In  the  broader  extra-juridictlonal  sense,  Sergeant,  I 
am  preparing  my  own  case,  indeed,  tis  true  of  all  when  comes 
the  judgment  of  the  higher  court  beyond  help  of  private  counsel 
or  public  defender  appointed  by  the  solicitous  state.  However, 
actually,  I  am  not  pro  per. 

WELL  I'LL  HAVE  TO  LOOK  THESE  OVER  AND  CALL  THE 
CAPTAIN.  GO  TO  YOUR  CELL  AND  I'LL  BE  BY  TO  SEE  YOU. 

Back  on  bunk  lying  stoned  laughing  groan.  I  hate  Grade  B 
movies.  Where  my  karmic  contract?  This  time  round  I  signed 
up  for  forest  nature  Noble  Dionysian.  It  was  clearly  understood: 
no  more  Humphrey  Bogart.  What  will  thits  do  now?  Imagine 
jail  officials  clustered  round  desk.  Why  Gentlemen  this  is 
nothing  less  than  an  insidious,  subversive,  treasonous  incite- 
ment of  widescale  treacherous  assault  of  children  on  their 
parents  which  we  have  luckily  diligence  of  agents  intercepted 
Inspector,  yes  the  chief  will  be  pleased  we  caught  this  in  the 
bud  strictest  surveillance  not  happen  again  smuggling  docu- 
ments out  of  escape  proof  jail  indictment. 

Heavy  footsteps  on  the  tier.  Sergeant  blunky  form  at  bars. 
LEARY  I  BEEN  READING  THESE  PAPERS.  I  DUNNO  IT  SEEMS 
TO  ME  THESE  ARE  STORIES,  YES  SIR,  STORIES  YOU  ARE 
WRITING.  HOW  YOU  GET  A  TYPEWRITER  IN  HERE? 

Looks  suspiciously  around  cell.  OR  ELSE  YOU  WROTE 
THEM  AND  HAD  THEM  TYPED  OUTSIDE  AND  THEN 
BROUGHT  IN  FOR  YOU  TO  CORRECT. 

I  look  him  amaze.  Pardon  me,  but  my  space  ship  just  arrived 
here.  Take  a  day  or  two  to  adapt.  Atmospheric  pressure,  you 
know.  Mild  disorientation  familiar  to  all  galactic  travelers.  Now 
if  you'll  give  me  my  papers  I  can  get  back  to  business. 

I'M  GOING  TO  PUT  THESE  PAPERS  IN  YOUR  PERSONAL 
PROPERTY.  THEY  WILL  BE  SEALED  THERE  AND  YOU  GET 


19 


THEM  WHEN  YOU  LEAVE.  AND  I  DONE  WANT  NO  MORE 
WRITING  SENT  OUT  OF  THIS  JAIL.  GAINST  RULES  AND 
REGULATIONS. 

Heels  drum  down  concrete  walk  and  outside  hear  the  ham- 
mering of  scaffold  and  dogs  howling  and  murmur  of  the  angry 
crowd  and  the  women  wailing. 

Eli  Eli  lama  sabachthani. 

Which  translated  from  the  Aramaic  means:  Some  of  these 
people  around  here  seem  to  forget  that  its  just  a  movie  we're 
making  for  fun  and  they  are  the  ones  with  the  spears.  Get  me 
out  of  here.  My  woman's  waiting  home. 


20 


March  18     70     Orange  County/Ghino 


At  four-thirty  right  first  after  breakfast  fueling  travel  orders 
klaxon. 

LEARY,  N-6.  ROLL  UP  YOUR  GEAR. 

This  now  count-down  moment  devolution.  Mutate  jailee 
prisonee.  Ghino  Ghain  Ghang.  Take  down  down  escalator  to 
abasement  holding  tank.  Strip  off  county  wrappings.  Slip  on 
on  (last  time?)  mod  flannel  London  karma  suitra. 

Property  window  personal  items  contaminated  with  intimate 
baraka  sealed  sanitary  plastic  bags.  Khaki  holding  bag.  Squint. 
Laugh.  "Hey  Doc.  Is  it  true  you  are  writing  a  book  about  us?" 
Greeding  outside  sheet  of  confiscated  manuscript.  Pleasure 
roar  recognizing  Orange  Gounty  Jail  jargon. 

"No  arristofer.  Is  this  proper  procedure  for  you-it  be  greed- 
ing me  intimate  illegal  documentaries?  You-lt  can  read  maya 
book  when  comes  out  imprint." 

"I'll  never  get  to  see  it."  Said  the  Roman  soldier  resignedly. 

"You'll  find  a  complementary  copy  next  to  your  motel  bed," 
yo  said. 

Thits  store  corps  special  insolation  holding  tank.  Few 
minutes  bring  beefy,  square-trimmed  thirty  old  steer.  "You 
guys  are  supposed  to  be  in  protective  custody.  I'll  leave  you 
alone  If  you  promise  not  to  harm  each  other." 

Us  eyes  pledge  truce. 

Across  room  in  other  pen  blossom  tall  beautiful  boy  in  lotus 
pose. 

Armours  guards  and  rusty  trustees  wound  round  asking 
Harvard  questions. 

"This  prison  system  isn't  good  but  It's  the  best  we  have." 

Hippie  flow  over.  Just  wrapping  up  year  at  Gounty  Farm. 
Radiate  sunshine.  "The  only  thing  tu  miss  here  is  sex,  music, 
and  dope." 

"Thanks  a  lot."  Nu  laugh. 

Pen  partner  mysterious.  Thits  keep  him  special  insolation. 
Sterilived  hospital  cell.  Him  crime  true  heinous  to  tell.  Him  me 
puzzle.  Not  wild  animal.  Stolid  domestication.  White  collar 
crime?  Right  collar  crime? 

Handcuffed  wristly  together  nu  file  on  bus. 


21 


Him  tolled  me  shocked  for  paranoid  schizophrenia  when 
Korean  War. 

CALIFORNIA  INSTITUTION  FOR  DEMALE-ING,  CHINO, 
CALIFORNIA 

ADULT  PROCESS  IN-CASED  ARRIVALS  CONT'D 

Q  26357         LARNER,  Ronnie  Russ 

Crime:  Robb  1st  (211  P  C) 
Sentence:  6  mos-Life  (Per  1202b  PC) 
County:  Orange 

Q  26358         LEARY,  Timothy  Francis 

Crime:  Poss  IVIari     11530  H  &  S 
Sentence:  6  mos-10 
County:  Orange 

Raw  material  reception  room.  In  migrants.  Degenesis.  Strip 
naked.  Its  Adam  shame  your  here.  Throw  away  every  personal 
except  clothes  to  male  home,  collect  within  fifteen  days  else 
donate  to  Salivating  Army.  Body  inspection.  Run  hands  through 
hair.  Tote  ears.  Open  mouth.  Wag  tongue.  Lift  male  mail  bags. 
Turn  around.  Spread  buttocks.  Life  right  foot.  Life  left  foot. 
Take  shower.  Dress  prison  uniform. 

This  experience  is  treated  under  eight  headings:  I.  Name  and  Place  of  Hell; 
II.  Existence  of  Hell;  III.  Eternity  of  Hell;  IV.  Impenitence  of  the  Damned; 
V.  Poena  Damni;  VI.  Poena  Sensus;  VII.  Accidental  Pains  of  the  Damned; 
VIII.  Characteristics  of  the  Pains  of  Hell. 

Tall  black  in  blue  dance  over.  "Hey  Tim.  Psychedelic  Tommy, 
they  call  me."  Hands  maya  ten  hand-rolled  Bugler  cigarettes. 

Rumor  mills.  Orders.  Me  put  in  hole.  Isolation  lock-up.  Ship 
to  Vacaville.  Captain  wants  to  talk  to  you. 

Sergeant  hairlines  inspection.  Shave  hair  souls.  Ordered  to 
barber.  Last  mirror  glimpse  of  forest  hair  and  mountain  mus- 
tache. "Leaf  as  branch  as  you  can,"  suggest  barber.  Grunts 
and  clips.  Mirror  eye  see  strange  high-headed  youth.  "Don't 
complain,  man,  you  look  twenty  years  younger." 

Pick  up  sheets  and  blankets  following  sergeant  to  soulitary 
insolation.  Bad  boy  lock  up  for  you.  Walk  by  zoo  cages.  Nasty 
mean  animals  raise  up  sullen  heads.  Barking  with  pleasure  to 
see  famed  wild  captive.  Blacks  shout,  "Hey  Tim.  We  gotta 
talk  to  you." 

Locked  in  cages  nu  can't  see  each  other.  Just  animal  cries. 
Brass  nassy  Brooklyn  voice  denounce  me.  "OOOH.  He's  that 
mad  bad  doctor  get  all  de  kids  take  dope.  They  should  hang 
him."  Blacks  trombone  back:  "You  outa  yo  Motherfucking 
mine,  Shoaty.  He's  freedom  fighter." 


22 


Shorty's  voice  befriendly.  "Hey  Doc.  Look  at  dese  pictures." 
Hand  appears  corner  of  cell  with  color  snapshots.  Sad-eyed 
blue  wife.  Clear-eyed  pink  kids. 

Shorty  shouts:   "Hey  Doc.   Here's  the   record   of  my  trial. 
Read  it." 
Shorty  shouts:  "Hey  Doc.  You  want  some  cigarettes?" 
Shorty  shouts:  "Hey  Doc.  You  need  stamped  envelopes?" 
Shorty  shouts:  "Hey  Doc.  You  wanna  Playboy  magazine?" 

In-prudent.  In-presario. 

In-,  prefix.  1,  In,  on.  2.  Denoting  negation,  as  in-firm.  Before 
"b"  and  "p"  the  "n"  changes  to  "m,"  as  im     prudent. 
In     accurate 
In     accessible 
In     action 
In     adequate 
In     admissible 

I.  Name  and  Place  of  Hell:  The  term  "hell"  is  cognate  to  "hole"  (cavern)  and 
"hollow."  Hell  denotes  a  dark  and  hidden  place. 

YOUR  LETTER  IS  RETURNED  FOR  THE  REASON(s) 
CHECKED  BELOW:  INCOMPLETE  ENVELOPE  FLAP 

Dinner  passed  through  slot  in  bars.  Then  began  evening's 
intertainment.  Blacks  using  mirrors  to  catch  setting  sun.  Re- 
flecting birds  of  light  against  tier  wall.  "Hey  Doc.  Look."  They 
are  playing  sunshine  tag  racing  reflected  spots  of  light  along 
wall.  Laughing  shouts.  In-perturbable. 

P  47327         BRUNO,  Manuel  Sanchez 

Crime:  Wilful  Abuse  of  Child/273  a  PC 
Sentence:  6mo-10 
Judge:  P.  P.  Slaughter 
DA:  E.  J.  Younger:  PD:  CJ 

What  does  PD  mean?  Public  defender. 
What  is  a  public  defender? 
Opposite  of  private  defender. 

Twi-light.  Hour  of  romance.  A  young  tan.  lady  named  Sandy 
coos  out  soft  message.  Black  organ-voices  rumble  back. 

"You  there  Sandy.  You  tender  cunt  you.  Oh  what  I'm  gonna 
do  to  you  girl.  I  got  me  twenty-seven  inches  here  for  you." 

Shy  seductive  pun.  "Oh  no,  big  boy.  I'se  my  own  girl  from 
now  on.  No  more  marriage  for  me.  I'se  a  free  pussy." 

"Great  God  A'mighty  I  gotta  get  some  sweet,  red  asshole! 
Ah'm  sick  to  death  of  my  own  right  hand.  Whoooeeee!  Here  I 


23 


come  Sandy.  I'll  skin  you  soft  brown  ass,  girl.  Oh!  Oh!  What 
I'm  gonna  do  to  you,  sister.  I'm  gonna  split  you  velvet  asshole, 
girl.  Gonna  stuff  mah  tool  up  you  belly.  Split  you  kidneys,  girl. 
Pen-ay-trate  yo  guts,  little  girl.  Ah'm  gonna  get  you,  baby,  so 
you  never  gonna  walk  again.  Great  God  Ah  Mighty,  cunt,  I'se 
yo  man." 

Silence  on  the  tier,  Sandy  soft  cunning  voice,  in-breath. 
"Oh  mister  Guard.  Let  that  man  out.  Oh  yes,  let  him  loose,  I 
needs  that  man." 

Roaring  laughter  sweeps  three  storey  300  house.  Eighty 
males  poke  red  heads  through  cell  bars  digging  bawdy  action. 

Like  love  play  everywhere,  fierce  pulsing  action  peaks  sub- 
sides. Silence  fills  hall.  Letter  writing  Rosemary.  Shorty's 
raucous  gutter  voice:  "Hey  Doc!  Look  out."  Cackling  laughter. 

Head  to  bars  I  look  down  tier  at  fire  blazing  on  floor — flames 
six  feet  high  leap  up  burn  sheets,  blankets,  discarded  clothes. 
Wild  screams.  Pleasured  rage  echo  through  metal  hall. 

"Yay  man,  Burn  Mudderfucking  joint  down!  Yay  man!  Burn 
to  ground.  Pour  it  on." 

Momentary  reflex  fear  trapped  in  cell  holocaust  calmed  by 
cement  steel  inflammable  maximum  security. 

P  57328         WHITE,  Frank  Luther 
Crime:  Robb  1st 
Sentence:  5-life 
Judge:  R.M.  Dales 
D.A.:  E.J.  Younger;  PD:  CJ 

What  does  CJ  mean? 

Convicted  by  jury.  Jury  of  his  peers. 

One  angry  Black  pyro-phobic  voice  protest  fire  is  howled 
down.  Incendiary  quarrel  between  two  African  powers.  "Why 
you  shit-face,  Motherfuckin^g  sissy  Nigger,  we  burn  down  this 
establishment,  you  stay  out  of  this,  yo  hear." 

"Yay  bo."  Mocking. 

"You  miserable  Motherfucker,  I'm  going  to  get  you.  You's 
dead  you  MotherfuckIng  fool.  I  get  out  of  this  cell  tomorrow, 
I'se  going  to  whip  you  ass  so  hard  you  die.  Die,  Motherfucker! 
You  hear  me?" 

"Yay  bo."  Mocking.  "You  scare  me." 

"Done  you  'yay  bo'  me  you  Motherfucker.  I'se  going  to  get 
you  dead,  Motherfucker.  What  you  name?" 

"My  name  Is  Shackleforth,  baby." 

"Well  you  po  fool,  Shackleforth,  you  dead.  Dead,  Mother- 
fucker. I  got  Brothers  in  every  joint  in  this  state,  MotherfuckIng 


24 


fool,  and  we  going  to  kill  you."  Tiger  blood  blind  rage  red  bull 
gore  baritone  rage. 

"Ooooh!  I'se  frightened." 

Like  hate  play  everywhere,  fire  dies  down  dead  leaving 
heavy  damp-rag,  penetrating  smoke.  Caution:  May  be  dan- 
gerous to  your  health.  Guards  march  in,  rip  off  two  cells  on 
each  deck  front  of  fire.  Roll  up  to  hole,  snarling  innocence 
bitterly.  In-sendiary. 

Smog  smudge  atmosphere.  Silence  settles  duskly. 

"Hey  Doc!"  Comic  Shorty  calling. 

"Yeah,  Shorty." 

"How  you  like  prison?"  Shorty  laugh. 

Besides  Hades  and  Gehenna,  we  find  in  the  New  Testament  many  other 
names  for  the  abode  of  the  damned.  "Abyss."  "Place  of  Torments."  "Ex- 
terior darkness."  "Storm  of  darkness." 

P  67372         BRUNO,  Jose  E. 

Crime:  Rec'd  for  Diagnosis/  1203.03  PC 

Sentence:  90  Day  Placement  (Atmpt  Mur  &  ADW  on 

Peace  Officer) 
Judge:  T.  T.  Negan 
D.A.:  J.  Twitchell:   PD: 

What  does  ADW  mean? 
Assault  with  deadly  weapon. 
What  does  peace  officer  mean? 
Cop. 


25 


March  20     70     Chino 


Rosemary's  horoscope  for  year: 

"The  expansive  planet  of  Jupiter  will  bring  some  strange 
events  into  your  life  this  year.  Unfortunately,  while  some  people 
thrive  on  changes,  Taureans  are  more  conservative  and  you 
may  resent  the  fact  that  they  are  forced  upon  you,  even  though 
they  can  only  improve  your  life,  your  standard  of  living,  and 
your  general  outlook.  If  you  are  married  you  can  rely  on  those 
closest  to  you  desiring  to  help  you  with  your  new  responsibili- 
ties. Finances  will  be  less  restricted,  but  try  to  consolidate 
them  until  the  end  of  the  year  when  you  will  be  able  to  take 
a  long-dreamed-of  vacation." 

YOUR  LETTER  IS  RETURNED  FOR  REASON(s)  CHECKED 
BELOW:  YOU  ARE  PERMITTED  TO  WRITE  ON  ONE  (1)  SHEET 
OF  PAPER,  USING  BOTH  SIDES.  THIS  LETTER  IS  IN  EXCESS 
THEREOF. 

P  77327         BLACK,  Bryon  Willie 

Crime:  Poss  Mari  (Rob  Rev)  11530  H  &  S 
Sentence:  6mo-10 
Judge:  T.  Hanslinger 
D.A.  i.M.  Downs:  PD:  CC 

What  does  H  and  S  mean? 

Health  and  Safety.  This  grassy  wicked  has  broken  the  H  &  S 
law. 

Twi-light  mating  calls:  "You  Sandy.  You  need  a  Motherfuck- 
ing  Bull  on  top  your  ass.  You  nothing  but  a  hundred  dollar 
night  hoe.  Oh  girl,  when  I  catch  holt  of  you.  I'm  five  inches 
wide.  Dey  gonna  get  me  for  man  slaughter." 

"Woman  slaughter,  baby,"  whisper  reply. 

Sweet  little  alcoholic  thief  look  me  admiration.  "My  wife 
and  my  kids  never  do  anything  together.  You  smoke  marijuana 
with  your  family." 

"Ooooh,  you  girl  Sandy!  I  gotta  have  you.  You  and  me  all 
the  way,  little  lady."  He  rattle  bars  berserk  gorilla.  Huge  tier 
clang  with  sexual  hunger. 


26 


"I've  been  here  two  years.  It's  the  physical  contact  you  miss. 
Soft  flesh.  The  physical  contact." 

Everyone  here  for  essence  flaw.  True,  everyone  in  outside 
world  nurses  him  karmic  mistake.  Everyman  life  center  around 
seek-curit  genetic  wound.  But  here  shame  is  public.  Lust. 
Anger.  Heroin.  Gluttony.  Thievery.  Pride.  Rape.  Greed.  Murder. 
Covetousness.  Child  molesting.  What's  your  beef?  What's 
him  beef? 

"Hey  Doc.  Why  are  you  here?" 

Pride,  I  think. 

Old  grey  haired  Black  interrupts,  laughing.  "He  here  cause 
he  shoot  his  big  mouth  off  too  much." 

P  87327         BRUNO,  Vincent  Lopez 

Crime:  Rec'd  for  Diagnosis  /1 203.03 
Sentence:   90   Day   Placement  (Poss  Firearm  by  Ex- 
Felon) 
Judge:  J.  Twitchell 
D.A.:  J.  Edgar:  PD: 

Letter  from  a  Taurean  Poet 

Dr.  Tim  and  I  strolled  in  the  sun  today  .  .  .  and  talked  .  .  . 
and  he  is  an  unusually  meaningful  companion  to  have  here  at 
the  "bottom  of  falling"  .  .  .  Astrological  nomenclature  ...  (I 
think  perhaps  you  felt  somewhat  condescending,  your  wife 
being  a  Taurus  and  all  .  .  .)  n'  me  and  my  hypothesis  of  a  cor- 
relation between  the  I  Ching  and  the  signs,  eventually  wrap- 
ping it  all  up  in  "karma  paper,"  so  that  for  a  few  moments  I 
really  felt  quite  "found!" 

Couldn't  avoid  noticing  the  coterie  of  persons  that  would 
occasionally  come  around  as  we  walked  .  .  .  some  of  them 
wanting  so  much  to  ask  you  "how?"  .  .  .  probably  seeking 
some  directed  guarantee  .  .  .  and  I  hope  that  you  will  reject 
no  one  here,  because  you  may  be  the  breath  that  many  of  us 
require,  in  fact  I  remember  silently  searching  for  the  candor 
to  mention  this,  but  then  you'd  smile  with  a  nectar  of  love 
and  wisdom  and  surcease,  and  it  became  obvious  to  me  how 
innocently  beautiful  nirvana  is  on  a  physical  plane. 

I  must  tell  you  that  I  felt  a  certain  amount  of  concern  that 
the  system  acolytes  have  used  you  for  a*  political  catharsis, 
cleansing  their  own  hypocrisy,  and  attempting  to  displace  your 
sane  vitality  by  removing  your  presence  from  the  reach  of 
many  upraised  hands  .  .  .  However  now  I  think  that  you  are 
absolutely  adaptable  .  .  .  like  feathers  in  the  wind  .  .  . 

Peace  on  your  journey  North,  and  of  course  the  blessing 
of  Tao  for  all  that  you  will  do.  I  am  pleased  for  having  been 
that  much  closer  to  "warm." 


27 


P  97327         WHITE,  Gary  Williams 
Crime:  RSP  7496  PC 
Sentence:  6mo-10 
Judge:  W.  Anger 
DA:  F.  Angnew:  PD:  CC 

What  does  RSP  mean? 

Receiving  Stolen  Property. 

Property.  Property.  Property.  Property 

The  old  philosopher  Zweig  is  talking: 

"Let  us  forget  Nietzsche  and  all  his  books,  and  concentrate  on  this  new 
phenomenon,  that  Nietzsche  was  one  of  the  first  to  observe.  It  is  this:  for 
the  first  time  in  history,  men  are  beginning  to  feel  stifled  by  their  own 
humanity.  Most  of  the  great  artists  and  writers  of  the  nineteenth  century 
are  men  who  feel  themselves  trapped  in  their  own  limitations.  They  are  all 
stifled  by  human  weakness.  And  yet  at  the  very  time  when  some  men  are 
fighting  to  get  free  of  this  weakness,  others  are  basing  their  art  on  the 
concept  of  weakness,  of  human  defeat.  This  is  the  one  clear  fact  that 
stands  out  of  our  cultural  history.  One  class  of  men  wants  freedom;  the 
other  builds  an  ethic  of  negation.  So.  .  .  what  does  this  indicate?  Surely 
that  man  Is  preparing  for  a  new  evolutionary  leap?"  — Necessary  Doubt, 
Colin  Wilson 


28 


March  21     70     Chino 


Old  shaven  grey  head  dormous  furry  tattered  tale  me  story 
walking  back  to  cell.  In  San  Diego  County  Jail  dired  dungeon 
books  illegal  contraband.  Hippie  saint  smuggle  copy  Upan- 
Ishads  past  from  cell  to  cell.  Him  self  writ  nine  Upanishads 
by  hand  on  yellow  legal  sheets.  "I  thought,  perhaps,  you'd 
like  to  read  them." 

He  gift  me  after  dinner  sunset  bunk  reading  Katha  Upan- 
ishad  remembering  past  time  reading  Katha  Upanishad  in 
foothills  Himalayas.  Friendly  Indian  army  officer  chauffered 
jeep  thrifty  miles  past  Almora  parked  by  side  road.  Foot  step 
hour  up  terraced  hills.  Look  upcross  valley  see  domes  of 
Krishna  temple. 

Ashram  of  Sri  Krishna  Prem.  Forty  years  ago  young  hand- 
some Oxford  philosopher  pilgrims  India  researching  lumination. 
Hunting  guru  spoor  up  Ganges.  Sun  shone  bright  at  monastery 
of  Sri  Ramana  Marharshi  who  sat  90  millions  whiles  away 
impersonal  as  sun  radiating  equally  to  every  upturned  face. 
Seeking  higher  lasers  edge  wanders  to  Lucknow  teaching  Uni- 
versity. Rhadha  wife  of  the  Chairman  of  the  Department  of  Illu- 
mination devotee  of  Krishna,  laughing,  dancing  God  of  love. 
Love  of  her  love  of  Krishna's  love  for  him  Rhadha  and  the 
Englishman  now  Sri  Krishna  Prem  leave  Lucknow  and  found 
Ashram  in  fardistant  Kumaon  Hills  some  thirty-soot  hours  from 
Delhi  by  rail  and  bus  to  Almora  then  thirsty  mile  further  by 
foot  high  on  ridge  two  build  the  temple  of  Love  God. 

Sri  Krishna  Prem  wrote  (as  every  student  of  the  path  must 
write)  his  commentary  on  the  Gita  and  additional  labor  love  a 
thin  deep  book  on  Katha.  A  pious  but  practical  Brahmin 
Vajasravasa  gives  as  sacrifice  ownly  old,  barren,  milkless  cows. 
His  son  Naciketas  (youth  revolting  protests)  proposes  that  his 
Father  offer  him  to  priests.  In  anger  Father  says  I  awe  for 
you  to  Yama,  God  of  Death.  Walking  to  temple  through  fields 
irrigated,  fruittrees,  smallawn  two  storey  monkhouse  terrace 
overlooking  vallles  north  to  Tibet  south  to  Almora.  Place  void 
we  stand  awhiling.  When  Naciketas  reached  the  House  of 
Yama  God  was  absent.  For  three  days  waited  meditation.  When 
God  of  Death  returned  his  servants  said,  Oh  Lord  this  young 


29 


Brahman  has  waited  three  days  without  food.  It  is  written  that 
hospitality  to  the  Brahman  is  required.  Yama,  apologizing, 
said  "Oh  Brahamana,  obeisances,  since  thou  has  waited  with- 
out food  in  my  house  for  three  nights  may  I  offer  any  three 
gifts  which  thou  desire." 

P  08328         BLACK,  Clayton  J 

Crime:  Rec'd  for  Diagnosis  /  1203.03  PC 

Sentence:  90  Day  Placement  (Poss  Dang  Drug  &  Driv 

U/l  of  Narc) 
Judge:  W.  Seagram 
DA:  H.  A.  Schenly:  PD 

Soon  down  the  wooded  hill  came  long  striding  two  tall 
athletic  Englishmen  in  robes.  One  in  seventies  one  thirties. 
The  old  man  came  up  radiating  pure  love  glow. 

We  had  come  without  pre-arrangement  but  were  invited  to 
the  second  floor  porch  room.  Seated  on  cushions  Sri  Krishna 
Prem  and  Ashish  served  tea.  When  he  discovered  Harvard  pro- 
fessor misfired  for  spiritual  advocation  his  warmth  unbounded. 

Your  sadhana  lead  to  cheerfully  give  up  reputation  and 
has  lead  you  footsure  to  this  remote  valley  in  search  of  divine 
true.  This  here  your  home. 

Naciketa  first  wished  that  his  father  forget  his  anger  and 
forgive  his  son.  Granted,  quote  Yama. 

Sri  Khrishna  Prem  knew  all  around  LSD.  Siva  powerful  sacra- 
ment, divine  electsir  more  powerful  than  newclear  bomb.  Be 
prareful.  He  was  deeply  interested  teaching  of  Gurdjieff  and 
scorned  less  of  pompass  followers.  He  spoke  with  wisdom  and 
with  love.  The  man  who  kails  himself  Maharishi  seeks  dame 
and  money.  And  poor  Meher  Baba  who  fames  he  onwiy 
Havatar  will  get  alassly  the  followers  he  deserves.  We  sat  on 
floor  surrounded  books.  We  have  given  most  of  the  lib-rary 
away.  Keep  old  alchemical  texts.  Ancient  gnostic  commen- 
taries. Take  this  with  you.  My  meditations  on  the  Katha  Upan- 
ishad.  The  book  was  sun  yellow  bound! 

Naciketa  wished  next  that  Yama  teach  him  fire  sacrifice, 
the  aid  to  heaven.  Gladly,  sage  Yama,  and  described  the  man- 
ner in  which  the  ancient  ritual  ash  performed.  Being  delighted 
by  noble  youth  added  the  boon  that  forever  more  the  sacrifice 
of  fire  would  be  known  by  name  of  Naciketa. 

P  08329         BRUNO,  Margerito  Flores 
Crime:  Poss  Mari 
Sentence:  6mo-10 
Judge:  J.  Walker 
DA:  J.  Beam:  PD 

It  is  now  time  for  our  evening  worship.  Would  you  join  Sri 


30 


Krishna  Prem?  We  worship  Krishna,  young  God  of  love. 
Krishna  is  the  human  embodiment  of  Gods  endless  goodness. 
He  is  father,  lover,  shepherd,  musician,  dearest  Baby  God-child, 
son,  teacher,  brother,  laughing  friend.  Come  worship  us  with 
him. 

The  temple  small.  High  altar  for  Baby  God.  We  sat  on  mats 
outside  wide  open  temple  doors.  Ashish  and  young  English- 
man bound  in  stood  to  right  Sri  Krishna  strode  from  hallway 
beside.  As  he  enteroom  Ashish  be  banging  on  huge  metal 
triangle.  Membrane  bending  sound  bombs  whiled  friend  whal- 
ing too  drums.  Barumb.  Barumb.  G!ang-a-rang-bang.  Barumb. 
Barumb.  Mind  blasting,  reeling  auditory  earsaulting  clamor. 
Sri  Krishna  Prem  striding  masterfully,  chanting.  Barumb,  Ba- 
rumb. Swift  sure  musculated  whirlspin,  action,  whisking  bullock 
tail  clang-a-rang.  Baloom.  Baloom.  Locomotor  triangular  round- 
house insense  smoking,  dervish  energy  tornado.  Hari  Krishna 
harlcane  sweep  up.  In  frenergetic  trance.  Sri  Krishna  Prem 
turning  lifting  sweet  parts  comes  to  us  offer  puja.  Sweeps  out 
of  room  and  sound  stops. 

Choose  now,  O  Naciketa,  the  third  boon.  And  the  young 
man  asked:  What  happens  after  death? 

P  08330         BLACK,  Waiter  Lee 

Crime:  Burg  2nd  7459  PC 
Sentence:  6mo-15 
Judge:  W.  Street 
DA:  T.  Mortgage:  PD 

What  is  that,  a  writ  you  reading,  asked  little  Bobbie  Robber 
cell  mate.  Tis  a  handridden  conversion  of  a  leaguel  book  which 
hath  many  a  soul  freed  prison  incarnation.  By  sitting  in  the 
corner  of  the  room  next  to  the  twilight  bowl  eye  look  through 
bars  at  redding  sun  be  with  Rosemary  setting  sundeck  Berke- 
ley. A  young  silly  white  boy  downtiers  flirting  awkwardly  with 
dusky  Queen  below.  The  three  tier  zoo  mammalian  stir  with 
well-fed  evening  erraticism. 

We  sat  on  floor  in  kitchen,  Sr.  K.P.  sit  cooking  before  high 
fire  place.  Graceful  ceremony.  Ashish  assist.  We  grow  our  own 
wheat  and  grind  it.  We  milk  our  own  herd.  Milk  and  cheese. 

We  used  to  be  strit-rictualists.  Obsessive  detail  to  taboos. 
Spend  five  hours  a  day  bathing,  feeding,  dressing  baby  statue 
Krishna.  Bakti.  Bakti.  Yoga  of  love.  Through  dedicated  love 
of  this  doll  Krishna  we  find  divine.  Forbid  interdict.  Check. 
Search  all  visitors  to  make  sure  no  leather  belt,  no  leather 
shoes,  no  leather  wallet.  No  cow  hide.  Strict.  Strict. 

Hundreds  of  food  rituals.  Keep  separate.  Wash  different 
bowls.  Baictt.  8aKti,  lovs  ol  ritual  is  love  of  God. 


31 


One  day  young  sincere  boy  came  to  visit.  While  we  were 
out  walking  he  went  into  kitchen  to  wash  dishes.  Horrid. 
Washed  wrong  dishes  in  right  bowls.  Completely  smashed  our 
purity.  When  we  returned  I  was  furious.  Flew  into  rage.  Had 
to  smash  and  throw  away  all  dishes.  Tantrum.  That  night  we 
realized  that  our  love  of  ritual  eroded  our  love  for  sloppy 
people.  So  we  gradually  changed.  Bakti.  Bakti.  Bakti.  Each 
minute  is  eternity  of  love.  We  have  sloped  off  ritual.  We  now 
worship  freely  and  gently. 

P  08331         WHITE,  Warren  Smith 
Crime:  Stat  Rape 
Sentence:  6mo-50 
Judge:  F.  Prye 
DA:  W.  Seagram:  Q.  Rankin 

We  find  Krishna  in  the  press  and  schedule  of  daily  living. 
Ashish  and  I  have  lived  together  for  many  years.  Incessant 
grinding  elbowing  gritty  yoga  of  daily  love.  I  was  hard  on 
him.  Relentless.  Days  of  revolt  and  doubt.  Will  our  love  sur- 
vive. Krishna  has  taught  us  that  love  in  living  is  love  of  God. 
We  cannot  proselytize.  Invite  others.  Large  ashram.  Our  yoga 
is  too  intimate.  Too  demanding.  Second  by  second. 

Paul,  here,  was  follower  of  Gurdjieff.  When  his  teacher  died 
he  wrote  us  begging  to  come.  For  six  months  we  turned  away 
his  letters.  Finally  we  let  him  visit  for  two  weeks.  Then  he 
returned  to  England.  Now  he  has  come  back  for  a  few  months. 
There  are  no  shortcuts  to  the  eternal  love.  In  which  all  is  given. 

The  old  sage  was  ill  and  tired.  Ashish  anxious  glances  but 
he  kept  us  late.  Our  days  of  talking  are  numbered.  You  came 
to  me  late,  Brother.  I  want  to  leave  you  as  much  as  I  can. 
You  will  need  it.  Your  yoga  hurdles  you  into  high  energies. 
Be  careful  of  the  powers.  Once  you  have  entered  the  Divine 
mansion,  as  I  see  you  have,  there  are  many  temptations.  The 
outer  rooms  are  filled  with  visions,  delights,  miracles,  occult 
powers,  new  forms  of  radiance.  Be  careful,  do  not  be  diverted. 
Do  not  linger  too  long  with  the  new  powers.  Go  forward  to 
the  one,  light,  pure  eye  center  from  whence  all  arises  and  to 
which  all  returns. 

To  morrow  visit  cell  where  handscribing  monk.  Thank  you 
brother  for  the  loan  of  Upanishads.  My  dearest  wise  guru  in 
Himalayas  first  gave  me  the  Katha.  How  mysterious  that  it 
should  reappear  here.  I  return  it  to  you  with  thanks. 

Look  man.  I'm  leaving  this  afternoon  for  Quentin.  Yeah,  they 
downed  me  good.  It  will  be  all  right.  But  I  can't  take  the  manu- 
script through  body  inspection.  You  keep  it  here  and  when 
you  leave  pass  it  on  to  another  soul  who  needs  it. 


32 


r 


P  08332         BROWN,  Ricardo 

Crime:  Theft  of  Vehicle 
Sentence:  6mo-5 
Judge:  H.  Ford,  PD 


After  a  few  days  it  came  to  past  that  sturdy  Jupiterian  from 
Aquarius  orbits  round.  Hell's  Angel.  Teach  me.  What  do  you 
want  to  learn?  I  wanna  ride  high,  a  Heaven  Angel.  I'll  settle 
for  anything  outta  Hell.  Watch  me  do,  Brother,  I  have  little  to 
say. 

Comes  to  my  bunk  bearing  offerings.  Can  of  Bugle  Crackers. 
Peanut  butter.  Honey.  Sitting  lotus-pose  I  praise  the  Tao  for 
these  gobbling  goodness.  Wiping  mouth  and  lightmg  cigarette. 
Well  friend,  what  can  I  offer  you?  Teach  me. 

Remember  the  handscrawled  Katha  on  yellow  legal  sheets. 
Read  the  introduction  slowly.  We  chant  the  propitiatory  CM 
together.  Do  you  feel  vibration  in  back  bone.  That  is  the  hum  of 
galactic  energy.  Electron  and  proton  harmonizing.  Can  you 
feel  how  we  are  on  same  frequency.  Docile  nod  yes. 

Reading  the  Katha  on  over-flow  skid  row  amid  the  noisy 
throng  of  prison.  It's  a  beautiful  clear  translation.  Comes 
through  across  the  four  thousand  years.  Electric  message. 
Despite  the  static. 

Forest  philosopher  high  on  Soma.  Vedas.  Upanishads.  Down 
through  Schopenhauer  to  young  Oxford  scholar  sits  on  Hima- 
laya terrace  receiving  and  transmitting,  take  this  dear  Timothy, 
handwritten  in  County  Jail,  smuggled  into  prison  and  the 
shaven  head  Hell's  Angel  sits  now  in  his  cell  making  his  own 
copy  which  he  will  pass  on  when  he  passes  on  from  here. 

There  once  a  time  a  Father  who  was  sloppy  and  selfish  in 
worship  and  his  son  mocked  him,  protesting,  dissenting,  and 
the  Father  in  his  anger  cursed  the  boy  to  death  who  answered 
the  three  questions  which  I  shall  now  reveal  to  you. 

Cm.  Shanti.  Cm.  Shanti. 

P  08333         BRUNO,  Ricardo  Gilberto 
Crime:  GT  (prob  Rev) 
Sentences:  6mo-10 
Judge:  J.  Mellon:  PD 


33 


March  24     70     Chino/Vacaville 


THE  FOLLOWING  AUTOMOBILE  BODIES  WILL  BE  TRANS- 
PORTED FROM  RCG  CIM  CDC  TO  RGC  CMF  VAC  VIA  REGU- 
LARLY SCHEDULED  MBDR  (73946)  Per  82522.  LEAVE  CELL  AT 
3:00  A.M.  INDIGESTIVE  FUELING  MADRONE  HALL  3:30  A.M. 
BODY  WASH  AND  INSPECTION  RECEIVING  &  RELEASE 
3:45  A.M.  PROPORTION  OF  CARCASS  TO  LIFE  STORE  IN 
HOLDING  TANK  3:50  A.M.  UNTIL  6:00  A.M.  HIGH  PROPOR- 
TION OF  LOIN  &  REAR  QUARTERS. 

"I  done  foteen  years  in  these  Motherfucking  California 
prisons.  I  just  can't  make  it  out  there.  Heroin.  That's  my  thing. 
Hunnerd  dollar  day  habit.  CMCRC  that's  the  place.  More  dope 
there  than  on  the  street.  When  the  guard  marched  me  to  the 
office  I'm  holding  my  works  in  my  left  hand  like  that,  unner- 
stand,  and  I  juss  slide  it  off  in  bushes  so  clean,  unnerstand, 
some  happy  Motherfucker  mussa  blown  his  wig  fine  that  little 
bag.  Had  eight  points.  I  got  me  some  cunt  in  every  prison  in 
this  state,  except  Quentin.  Oh  that  heroin  make  it  hard." 

DRESS  IN  WHITE  JUMP  SUITS  HANDCUFFED  ALLOWED 
ONE  PACKAGE  OF  UNOPENED  CIGARETTES  ON  BUS. 

P  08334         WHITE,  Keith  Miller 
Crime:  Burg  2nd 
Sentence:  6mo-15 
Judge:  B.  Kornfeld 
DA:  J.  Morgan:  PD 

"Oh  man,  we  should  be  on  left  side  of  Motherfucking  bus. 
You  get  to  see  more.  Unnerstand.  Pussy,  man.  When  we  pass 
those  cars  those  cunts  driving  with  skirts  up  they  ass, 
whoooeeee,  you  look  right  up  they  legs.  Oooh.  There's  one 
coming  now.  Let's  go.  Aw.  Motherfucking  pants  no  good." 

PROCEED  ON  FREEWAY  NORTH  VIA  GRAPEVINE  UP 
CENTRAL  VALLEY. 

Crazy  old  man  mumbling  to  self.  Trying  to  roll  powdery 
state  tobacco  with  handcuffs.  "Here  brother,  have  a  tailor 
made."  Looks  up.  Radiant  grin.  Oxford  voice.  "Why  thank  you, 
Governor.  A  Pall  Mall  after  breakfast  is  a  rare  and  delicious 
treat." 


34 


Rolling  green  farm  land.  Fruit  tree  blossoming.  Last  year 
we  slept  under  the  pear  tree  and  the  air  was  fragrant. 

Rolling  north  to  Berkeley  home.  Ontological  architectural 
designing.  Planning  drive  from  Vacaville  home  to  Berkeley. 
Reality  kit.  Do  it  yourself.  Construct  a  future. 

Where  is  hell?  Some  were  of  the  opinion  that  hell  is  everywhere,  that  the 
damned  are  at  liberty  to  roam  about  in  the  entire  universe,  but  that  they 
carry  their  punishment  with  them.  The  adherents  of  this  doctrine  were 
called  "Ubiquitists"  or  Ubiquitarians;  among  them  were  Johann  Brenz,  a 
Swabian,  a  Protestant  theologian  of  the  sixteenth  century. 

P  08335         GREY,  Walter  Lee 

Crime:  Poss  Mari  &  Poss  Firearm  by  Ex-Felon 

11530  H  &  S  &  12021  PC 
Sentence:  6mo-10  &  6mo-15  CC 
Judge:  J.  Hangslinger 
DA:  J.  Beam:  PD 

FOLLOWING  YOUTHFULL  BODIES  TO  BE  DROPPED  OFF 
AT  CMC  DVI  CDC  TRACY  FOR  YEARLING  PROCESS  TO  BE 
CHECKED  INCLUSIVE  ESCAPE  W/0  FORCE:  BURG  2ND: 
POSS  FIREARM  BY  EX-FELON  WEIGHT  AND  SIZE  ACCORD- 
ING TO  AGE  ASS  W  D'DLY  WEAP  W  INT.  T  COM  MURD: 
5-LIFE  FORM— DEEP,  BROAD  THROUGHOUT  LOW  SET, 
STRAIGHT  TOP  AND  UNDERLINE  FORG  (PROB  REVOC) 
CONSTITUTION:  GOOD  DEPTH  AND  WIDTH  OF  CHEST:  1-15 
POSS  NARC  FOR  SALE  &  SELL  NARC:  QUALITY:  SMOOTH 
THROUGHOUT:  GOOD  HANDLER  AS  INDICATED  BY  SOFT 
,  LOOSE,  PLIABLE  SKIN  COVERED  WITH  FINE  DOWNY  HAIR: 
BONE,  FINE  YET  OF  SUFFICIENT  SUBSTANCE  AND 
STRENGTH  TO  CARRY  BODY  ASLT  W.  INT.  TO  COM.  RAPE 
5-15  &  5-LIFE;  SELL  NARC  5-LIFE:  CONDITION:  CARRYING 
NATURAL,  FLESH  ENOUGH  TO  INDICATE  VIGOR  GRAND 
THEFT  6  MOS-10  DISPOSITION:  ENERGETIC  DOCILE  (DIS- 
QUALIFICATION ELIMINATE  FROM  CLASS.) 

The  kids  to  be  dropped  at  Tracy  were  scared.  Bloody  cock 
pit.  Father,  Father  why  hath  thou  forsaken  me  to  this  snarling 
sodamnrius  frightmare.  Gotta  show  you'll  fight  or  you'll  be  raped. 
Join  a  gang  or  you  get  picked  off. 

The  lawns  were  barefoot  green  boys  running  grass  mowers 
gamboling,  sunny  serene  afternoon,  bees  humming,  lazy  spring 
warmth  and  the  guards  in  the  gun-towers  daydreaming. 

Our  kids  filed  off  a  fare-thee-well  and  one  young  wired  up 
crazy  kid  joins  us  exploding  news.  Oh  man,  wait  till  I  tell  them 
on  the  main  line  I  rode  the  Grey  Goose  with  you.  Big  riot  last 
night.  Man  they  really  got  a  screw.  In  surgery  all  morning. 
Three  inmates  killed. 


35 


He  was  23  In  prison  since  age  16  seething  energy,  com- 
pletely at  war  with  system,  resigned  life  time  brutal  confine- 
ment. Never  been  on  street  during  adolescence  to  know  the 
soft  bodies  of  girls  all  raging  seed  sexuality  committed  to  vio- 
lence, teeth  knocked  out,  crazy  twisted  grin,  covered  with 
scars.  He  gazed  on  me  his  culture  hero.  Oh  man  wait  til  I 
tell  my  sister  I  met  you.  You're  her  idol.  How  old  is  she? 
Fifteen. 

P  08336         WHITE,  Joseph  Eugene 

Crime:  Burg  2nd  7459  PC 
Sentence:  6mo-5 
Judge:  J  Mellon 
DA:  M.  Dollar:  PD 

(Biographers  please  note:  The  Pied  Piper  of  Hamlin  was 
wandering  musician.  Piper.  Flute.  Performed  him  dooty  for 
society.  Good  rid-dance  for  rodents.  He  did  not  kill  hated, 
feared,  wicked  grey  whiskered.  Sweetly  piped  them  out  of 
town  to  plushy,  rich  forest  where  happily  forllver  after.  No 
pesticides,  traps,  poisons.  Only  soft  sweet  tunes  little  four  feet 
scamper  way.  Hoard  of  Directators  ungrateful  spited.  By  simple 
loving  mute-flute  solution?  Thit  gone  and  past  a  law  against 
him  him  merrily  wanders  out  of  time  town,  no  complaints, 
(you'll  miss  me  when  I'm  gone,  you  will)  no  trouble  but  the 
kids  do  listen  after  him.) 

PROCEED  CALIFORNIA  MEDICAL  FACILITY  CDC  RGC 
CMF  USA  VACAVILLE 

"This  joint  is  like  a  Motherfucking  Air  Force  Base,  man, 
unnerstann,  they  efficient  Motherfuckers,  smooth,  all  smooth 
but  chicken  shit  man  if  you  get  outta  line.  Military." 

PAROLE  VIOLATOR  WITH  NEW  TERM 
P  08337         GREEN,  William  Ireland 

Crime:  Forg,  3  cts  ALL-CC  &  CC  WPT  470  PC 
Sentence:  6mo-14,  3  cts.  ALL-CC  WPT 
Judge:  P.  Twitchell 
DA:  R.  Counts;  J.  Grossman 

Give  four  autographs  receive  two  pkg  cigarettes,  one  (1) 
copy  of  Radhakrishnan  History  of  Indian  Philosophy,  four 
stamped  envelopes  and  stored  In  cage  with  fifty-year-old  pink 
rabbit  accountant  who  lives  with  his  Mother.  Dear  furry  Mother 
Tucker  Beddy  Bye  Boy.  Got  drunk  in  public  sent  to  County 
Honor  Farm  for  six  months  after  four  months  and  three  days 
wandered  off  to  highway  and  hitched  ride  to  El  Centre,  walked 
up  to  truck-driver  In  parking  lot  and  sold  wrist-watch  for  $3.50. 
Liquor  stores  closed  so  bought  six  pack  spent  night  in  park, 
it  was  cold,  slept  on  windy  bark  pench.  Early  morning  bought 


36 


two  bottles  of  Muscatel  arrested  at  high  noon.  Convicted  of 
felonious  escape  without  force  five  year  term.  Maximum  gun- 
tower  security  because  escapee.  SKP  DANGER! 

YOUR  LETTER  IS  RETURNED  FOR  THE  REASON(s) 
CHECKED  BELOW:  INCOMPLETE  HEADING 

Prison  crowded.  Sleep  overflow.  Forty  double  bunk  beds, 
eighty  men  on  tier  floor.  Share  twelve  square  feet  with  seven 
criminals.  In  six  days  not  one  negative  vibration.  Look  down 
bed  time  face  old-time  hoodlum,  tattooed  mugger  rubber  shin- 
ing innocent  love.  Cheerful,  sharing,  family  loving  group. 

The  Ubiquitarian  is  universally  and  deservedly  rejected;  for  it  is  more  in 
keeping  with  their  state  of  punishment  that  the  damned  be  limited  in  their 
movements  and  confined  to  a  definite  place. 

P  08338         GREEN,  James  Timothy 

Crime:  Burg  2nd  w/2  PFC  2  cts  &  CC  WPT  459  PC 
Sentence:  6  mo-15  2  cts  &  CC  WPT 

What  does  PFC  mean? 

Prior  Felony  Convictions. 

YOUR  LETTER  IS  RETURNED  FOR  THE  REASON(s) 
CHECKED  BELOW:  IMPROPER  STATIONERY 

Neumann,  the  young  drug  experimenter  wanted  by  the 
police.  Is  talking: 

"I  was  impressed  by  the  opening  sentence  of  your  Heidegger  book.  It 
seemed  to  me  to  go  to  the  heart  of  the  problem.  Man's  experience  of 
the  world  is  basically  an  experience  of  limitation." 

"I  noticed  something  very  similar  in  your  article  on  suicide."  said  Zweig. 

"Be  of  good  cheer  and  say  that  you  are  burying  my  body  only." 

When  he  had  spoken  these  words  he  rose  and  went  into  the  bath 
chamber  with  Crito,  who  bade  us  wait;  and  we  waited,  talking,  and  think- 
ing of  the  greatness  of  our  sorrow. 


37 


March  26     70     Vacaville 


Delightful  science  fiction  story  by  blessed  Gerald  Heard. 
Higher  intelligence  planet  where  men  collaborate  symbiotically 
with  bees.  Supermen  come  down  to  Earth.  To  cool  us  out — 
while  ellas  allies  have  Conference  of  Bees.  We  Idiots  become 
symbiots. 

Horoscope  for  week:  Your  personality  is  center  of  some  con- 
troversy. Keep  in  close  contact  with  admirer  or  supporting 
person.  Do  not  try  to  handle  some  matter  alone. 

P  08339         ITALIC,  Giovanni 

Crime:  Escape  from  Slate  Prison  w/o  Force  CS  WPT 

4530  PC 
Sentence:  6mo-5  CS  WPT 
Judge:  A.  Linletter 
DA.  R.  Reegan:  PD 

What  does  CS  mean? 

Consecutive  with  recurrent  term.  Running  wild.  One  stretch 
on  top  of  another. 

RGC  COURT  RETURN  WITH  NEW  TERM 

The  Blacks:  They  were  dressed  in   rags  and  tatters  which  they  wore  not 
without  style  and  pride.  They  talked  with  the  greatest  relish  and  delight. 

They  were  gay  and  laughed  continually.  Their  laughter  seemed  to  come 
straight  from  some  sure,  inviolate  source  within  where  they  were  unfail- 
ingly refreshed  and  had  the  habit  of  feasting  with  kings.  Their  laughter 
matched  the  sun,  the  curve  of  the  sky  and  the  somberly  burning  land 
and  it  flashed  like  some  Inspired  revelation  of  the  future. 

P  08340         BRUNO,  Jesus 

Crime:  Escape  from  State  Prison  w/o  Force  CS  WPT 

4530  PC 
Sentence:  6mo-5  CS  WPT 
Judge:  A.  Linkletter 
DA:  R.  Reegan 

Eye  remember  hallway  line  at  Orange  County  Jail.  Seven 
foot  majestic  muscled  Black  walk  up  to  guard  station — poised, 
haughty  African  king.  As  turn  away,  small  frail,  bespectacled, 
pimpled  white  took  him  place.  It  was  only  a  ludicrous  acci- 


38 


dental  snapshot  juxtaposition,  quite  unfair,  but  to  eye  couldn't 
help  making  wicked  comment  to  men  around:  "White  su- 
premacy!" 

Although is  omnipresent, is  said  to  dwell   in   Heaven,  because 

the   light  and   grandeur  of  the   stars   are   the   brightest   manifestations   of 

infinite  splendor.  But  the  damned  are  utterly  estranged  from ; 

hence  their  abode  is  said  to  be  as  remote  as  possible  from dwelling, 

far  from  Heaven  above  and  its  light,  and  consequently  hidden  away  in  the 
dark  abysses  of  the  earth. 


39 


March  27     70     Vacaville 


Two  young  Blacks  meet,  by  suprise,  in  the  mess  hall. 

"Hey,  man,  what  you  doing  here?" 

Grinning.  "Oh,  I  got  three  life  tops." 

He  was  about  nineteen  years  old,  with  three  lives  to  serve. 

ADULT  PROCESS  CASES 

P  08341         GREY,  John  Baptist 

Crime:  Rec'd  for  Diagnosis  /1 203.03 

Sentence:  90  Day  Placement  (Fraud  Poss  Comp  Check) 

Judge:  A.  Carnegie 

DA:  J.  Morgan 

Jiggs,  forty-year-old  Black  heroin  addict,  thin  as  needle, 
spoons  up  to  me  bunk. 

"Tim,  answer  me  one  question." 

"Eye  try." 

"How  long,  man?  How  long  is  this  going  to  go  on?" 

Jiggs  come  up  again.  Laughing. 

"See  that  dude  down  there?  He's  ticketed  for  Quentin  sure. 
Know  what  he  tell  me?  He  say,  'Man,  they  can't  sent  me  to 
Quentin.  I'm  camp  material.'  Dig  that.  Camp  material." 

Eye  say,  "Ask  me  and  I'll  tell  you  I'm  street  material." 

Jiggs  breaks  up  behind  this.  Holds  out  el  palm  high,  high 
slap  it,  laughing  at  man  pleasure. 

Chicanes  start  meetings  in  yard.  First  time  they  have  taken 
group  action.  Danny  tell  me,  "The  Chicanes  were  too  proud 
to  do  things  in  groups.  When  they  were  mad  they'd  wait  and 
rip  off  enemy  on  their  own,  man  to  man.  Now  they  have  agreed 
to  cool  individual  violence.  It's  beautiful." 

Fifty  solemn  brown  men  cluster  round  spokesman,  harangue 
them  fiercely.  Hold  small  Mexican  banderas.  When  they-els 
break  up  shout  "Viva  La  Revolution.  Viva  Unitad." 

P  08342         BLACK,  John  Henry 

Crime:  Poss  Narc  (Prob  Rev)  1150c  H  &  S 
Sentence:  2-10 
Judge:  E.J.  Lilley 
DA:  P.  Davis 


40 


YOUR  LETTER  IS  RETURNED  FOR  THE  REASON(s) 
CHECKED  BELOW:  IMPROPER  RETURN  ADDRESS. 

Always  everywhere  Black  laughter.  Deep  body-soul  laughter. 

II.  The  existence  of  hell:  The  existence  of  hell  Is,  of  course,  denied  by  all 

those  who  deny  the  existence  of .  Thus  among  the  Jews,  the  Sad- 

ducees,  among  the  gnostics,  the  Seleucians,  and  in  our  own  time  Pan- 
theists, etc.  deny  the  existence  of  hell.  But  apart  from  these,  if  we  abstract 
from  the  eternity  of  the  pains  of  hell,  the  doctrine  has  never  met  with 
any  opposition  worthy  of  mention. 

P  08343         BRUNO,  Henry  Reyes 

Crime:  Robb  1st  2  cts  CC  211  PC 
Sentence:  5-Life  2  cts  CC 
Judge:  L.  Johnson 
DA:  J.  Mitchell 

Low-rider  gunsells  rape  off  hippies.  Any  longhair  him  pigeon 
for  punking.  Punked?  Forcible  asshole  rape.  Some  hippies  kill 
themselves. 


41 


March  29     70     Vacaville 


I'M  THE  FRIENDLY  BULL  OF  VACAVILLE 

The  first  day  of  weakend,  Easter  Sunday  lying  disordered 
linen  sheets  our  nightly  sepulchres  rudely  rent  in  twain  from 
top  to  bottom  alarm  awake.  Arise  the  day  hath  broken.  For 
preventation  resurrection  a  guarded  watch  for  ours  of  sleep. 

Down  the  beds  roaming  footroop  cop-cap  rakish  back  on 
head  come  anding.  Rise  again  from  the  dead.  Easter  egg  hunt 
starts  in  twenty  minutes. 

Bodies  rising  from  bed  joyously  greeting  Passcall  dawn. 
What  a  fuck  that  Motherfucking  bull  think  he  Motherfucking 
comedian.  Eye  glance  him  curious.  Fat,  red,  self-adulatory 
Irish  face. 

After  these  things  he  deed  show  himself  being  morning  the 
second  day  when  matin  bell  had  run  where  the  discipled  were 
once  again  in  mourning.  Waiting  for  bull  to  bring  hot  coffee 
water  from  kitchen.  Seating  lotus  pose  on  upper  bunk  look 
down  at  khaki-lad. 

"Say  Leary.  I  bin  looking  at  her  jacket.  You  sure  had  inner- 
resting  life." 

"You  record  only  tell  me  extraresting  life.  I  grant  no  inner- 
views." 

"Says  you  were  at  Holy  Cross  College  1938-39.  Zat  right?" 

I  answered:  "I  have  told  you  that  I  am  he.  If  therefore  ye 
seek  me,  let  these  others  go  their  way." 

Sirloin  face  sizzle  smile.  "Well  we  must  have  known  each 
other.  I'm  from  Worcester  and  in  1938-39  I  was  a  bus  boy  in 
the  dining  hall." 

"I  do  recall  you  served  me  well." 

Among  the  brothers  standing  and  putting  on  garments  there 
was  grumbling.  "Tell  Motherfucking  screw  get  the  hot  water 
for  our  coffee." 

Leaning  on  his  spear  the  guard  unwrapped  adolescent 
memory.  "Do  you  remember,"  saith  he,  "when  Artie  Shaw 
came  to  the  Cross  gym.  Back  Bay  Shuffle.  And  Benny  Good- 
man." 

Group  collects  around  amazement,  good  thieves,  bad 
thieves,  publicans,  sinners,  disciples  in  underwear  gaping. 


42 


"Dig  the  Motherfucking  screw  trying  to  be  honkey  friendly. 
Benny  Goodman:  Sheeeeeeet!" 

My  bunkmate  Jiggs  bent  over  munnbling  to  his  blankets. 
"What  Motherfucking  happen  being  friendly  to  Motherfucking 
bull." 

Guard  suddenly  snap  back  from  reverie.  "Now  take  it  easy 
boy." 

Jiggs  turn  unfold  tall  height.  "Don't  call  me  boy,  bull.  I'm 
thirty-three  years  old.  How  old  are  you,  screw?" 

Steer  overdone  face  turn  red-rare.  "That's  the  trouble  with 
you  people.  Anti  social.  Have  to  be  tough  guys.  Big  shots.  I 
try  to  be  human  with  you  and  you  get  up  tight.  You  people 
don't  fool  me.  I  read  your  letters  home  every  night.  You  act 
so  tough  around  here  and  then  go  whining  ^nd  soppy  good 
boy  to  your  Mothers." 

Eye  sitting  enthroned  on  upper  bunk  ascended  judge  of  living 
and  the  dead  look  down  on  prisoner  surrounded  by  sternly 
twenty.  One  of  them  that  stood  by  drew  out  a  word  and  smote 
the  servant  of  the  high  priest  in  the  ear:  "MOTHERFUCKER!" 

Screw  look  up  at  me  appealing  mercy.  I  look  down  shaking 
head  sadly.  "I  have  heard  your  case  and  I  find  you  guilty, 
Guilty,  of  disturbing  the  peace  and  disorderly  conduct." 

"But  listen.  I'm  Guilty,  the  friendly  bull.  I  try  to  be  nice  to 
these  people." 

"Ignorance  is  no  excuse.  You  come  trambling  noisy  througti 
our  early  morning  garden.  Bad  manners.  Mad  banners.  Flaunt- 
ing our  night  letter  secrets  and  putting  us  down.  I  have  lived 
with  these  men  some  days  now,  and  I  do  tell  you  they  are  as 
saintly  kings  to  me.  In  all  this  time,  living  as  we  do  in  chained 
crowded  squalor  there  has  been  naught  but  kindness.  Look 
at  us.  All  tribes.  Black.  Brown.  White.  Grey.  Let  your  world 
model  ours  and  spare  us  talk  of  'you  people.'  " 

The  telephone  belled  him  away  shrugging  his  shoulders 
wagging  his  head  muttering. 

"And  get  the  hot  water  boy,"  shouted  Jiggs. 


43 


April  Fools  Day     70     Chino 


Me  led  hand-cuffed  into  seven  jails  in  six  weeks.  Fourteen 
different  cells. 

Night  the  Orange  County  sheriff  locked  me  holding  tank, 
it  said,  "For  you,  we  throw  away  the  key." 

While  Rosemary  and  Mike  Standard  search  jails  of  Houston 
waiting  maya  rival,  Federal  Marshals  hid  (concell)  me  in  De- 
tention Center  Florence  Arizona.  Learned  later  that  thits  have 
girl  friends  Phoenix.  Routinely  stash  bodies  in  Florence. 

Texas  marshals  are  the  worse.  Pot  bellies.  Slack  jaws.  Jowls. 
Narrow  slit  eyes  that  never  look  at  you.  Cigarettes  dangling 
from  thits  lips.  Great  God  can  nu  ever  reach  thits?  Make  them 
laugh? 

Orange  County  deputies  glad  to  see  me  back  Texas.  And 
I  was  glad  to  see  thits  crew-cut  Marine  sergeants. 

Chino  Reception  Guidance  Center  Prison  dirty,  smoggy, 
sloppy  baggy  ass.  Southern  California  body  processing  plant. 

Vacaville,  near  Bay  area,  slick,  smooth  class  Berkeley  Police 
Club. 

The  Church  has  repeatedly  defined  this  truth,  e.g.  in  the  profession  of 
faith  made  in  the  Second  Council  of  Lyons  (n.  464)  and  in  the  Decrees  of 
Union  In  the  Council  of  Florence  (693).  "the  souls  of  those  who  depart  in 
mortal  sin,  or  only  in  original  sin,  go  down  immediately  into  hell,  to  be 
visited,  however,  with  unequal  punishments."  Poenis  disparibus. 

P  08344         GRAY,  James  Lawrence 

Crime:  DischFirearm  in  Occupied  BIdg  246  PC 
Sentence:  6mo-5 
Judge:  U.S.  Grant 
DA:  J.  Edgar 

Prison  cell  perfect  experimental  psychology  laboratory. 

Locked  In  single  cell,  with  me  own  mind,  me  own  body. 
Soulitary  con-finement. 

Stimulus  deprivation.  Outside,  we  richochet  each  day 
through  billion-faceted  traffic-jam  of  choice  points.  Inside 
single  cell  choice  restricted.  What  do  with  body?  What  do 
with  mind?  Hermetic  purity.  Monastic  vacuum  void  external 
pressure. 

Crazed  minotaur  chained  in  center  of  complex  maze.  Letters 


44 


restricted.  Visits  restricted.  No  phone  calls.  Foreign  relations 
so  rare  so  slow  observe  effects  microscopic  clear.  In-com- 
munication.  Yo  write  letter  tonight.  Slowed  censorship  reaches 
four  days.  Return  message  more  than  week.  Write  seven  letters 
before  answer  first. 

Body  and  mind.  Zen  purity  only  solution.  Live  here  now. 
Thoughts  of  past  and  future  masterbatory.  Patient  blue-denim 
spiders  weave  fragile  web  of  serenity.  Focus  on  moment  day 
spins  by.  Wrestle  with  daze  of  future-passed  hours  press  dull- 
hot-toothache  snail  pain. 

Zen  balance  so  delicate.  Slightest  pressure  tips  wildly. 

In  dealing  with  prisoner,  remember,  tu  deal  with  Buddha 
one  thin  feather  removed  from  paranoia. 

If  we  abstract  from  the  eternity  of  its  punishment,  the  existence  of  hell 
can   be  demonstrated  even  by  the  light  of  mere   reason.   In  sanctity  and 

justice,  as  wefl  as  in  wisdom, must  avenge  the  violation  of  the  Moral 

Order  in  such  wise  as  to  preserve,  at  least  in  general,  some  proportion 
between  the  gravity  of  sin  and  the  severity  of  punishment.  But  it  is  evident 

from   experience   that does   not   always   do   this   on    earth;   therefore 

will  inflict  punishment  after  death. 

P  08345         GREY,  John  Lewis 

Crime:  Robb  2nd  (Prob  Rev)  &  Robb  2nd  CC  21  PC 
Sentence:  1-Life,  2  cts  CC    ' 
Judge:  G.  Westmorland 
DA:  R.  Taylor:  PD 

PLIGHT  COLLAR  CRIME 

Young  Jon  tousled  hair,  lanky,  basketball  kid-next-door  sold 
half  him  stash  for  ten  dollars  to  friend  of  friend  who  be  a  narc. 
Under  new  devil  law  el  do  five  to  life  for  sales.  Here  on  ninety 
day  observation  to  see  if  deserves  probation.  Young  Jon 
scared.  Follows  around  big  frightened  flop-puppy,  eager  to 
run  errands,  constant  jabber  agitate  foolishness.  People  ask 
me,  "Is  that  your  son?"  Jon  grins  rattles  what  friends  we  are. 
With  el  like  In  Volkswagen  with  overgrown  Greyhound  puppy, 
leap,  bark,  scrambling  nervous  energy.  Play  handball  two 
hours  the  day. 

Always  over-reacting,  in-mature  breakfasj  irritation.  "God- 
dammit, these  Motherfucking  dump-trucks  have  gone  and  put 
a  sissy  in  my  cell.  I  can't  stand  it  man.  I'm  going  to  demand  a 
transfer.  Every  gunsell  on  the  tier  is  punking  him  and  I  have 
to  live  with  that.  Jeez,  he's  crazy.  You  know  what  he  did?  He 
used  my  toothbrush.  Can  you  dig  that?  After  I  told  him  not  to 
and  marked  mine  with  a  red  pencil.  Now  I  can't  use  it  after  all 
the  stuff  that's  been  in  his  mouth." 


45 


P  08346         WHITE,  Eugene  Lee 

Poss  Mari  (Prob  Rev)  &  RSP  CC  11530  H  &  S  &  496  PC 
Sentence:  6mo-10  &  a  cts  CC 
Judge:  J.  Schenly 
DA:  J.  Walker:  PD 

Next  day  Jon  came  up  in  yard  frantic.  He  was  going  to  kill 
those  Motherfuckers.  Maya  reputation  ruined. 

It  seemed  that  last  night  in  the  secret  hush  of  two  man  cell, 
Jon  plaid  gunsell,  coerced  shy,  timid  schizoid  boy  to  blow  him. 
And  then  he  whacked  punk  off  with  hand. 

Now  all  the  tier  knew  about  it  teasing  him.  "Dammit,  I'm 
no  queer,  but  now  they  lay  that  jacket  on  me." 

All  seem  so  comic,  except  Jon  weeping  really  tears  In 
middle  prison  yard. 

Cheerem  up.  He'll  ask  for  transfer  to  honor  dorm.  Tell  a 
guard  pressure  to  fight.  Escape  me  rumble  during  observation 
period. 

Move  next  day.  Never  mention  again. 

Little  sissy  look  at  me  calf  eyes.  Always  weak  and  small. 
Do  anything  get  accepted  tough  guys. 

Moreover,  If  all  men  were  fully  convinced  that  the  sinner  need  fear  no 
kind  of  punishment  after  death,  moral  and  social  order  would  be  seriously 
menaced.  This,  however, cannot  permit. 

P  08346         BLACKMAN,  Bobbie  Boyd 

Crime:  Sell  Mari  11531/  H  &  S 

Sentence:  5-Life 

Judge:  C.  Bark 

DA:  H.  Hangsiinger:  PD 

Second  night  in  prison.  Sandy  georgeous  girl  in  tier  below, 
seductive  voice  calling  "Hey  Timothy.  You  sure  are  beautiful 
man.  I  dig  you,  Timothy.  Will  you  marry  me?" 

Eye  knew  eighty  men  listening  expectation.  Be  quiet  but 
there  no  escape.  "Hey  Timothy.  I  dig  you  kind  of  man.  Will 
you  marry  me?" 

"Sandy,  I  can't  marry  you.  I  got  a  good  wife  now." 

Answer  cooed  back.  "Yes,  but  she's  not  here  and  I  am.  Let 
me  be  your  girl  here,  Doc." 

"But  she  is  here,  Sandy.  Hey  Sandy.  Listen.  Can't  you  feel 
her  presence.  She's  with  me  all  the  time." 

"Yeah,  but  Timothy.  I  mean,  my  pussy's  here  right  now  and 
she  wouldn't  mind." 

"Oh,  Sandy,  you  don't  know  my  woman.  She's  aweful 
jealous.  And  you  wouldn't  want  to  make  her  mad  at  you.  She's 
got  a  thirty-five  and  a  half  inch  chest." 

Figured  it  only  righteous  let  listen  In  audience  trip  out. 


46 


Silence  second  and  then  big  whoop  joyous  laughter  reverberate 
around  gallery. 

Then  big  Bull  voice  cut  In,  deep,  chuckle  laughter.  "Anyway 
Sandy,  you  is  my  girl  and  I  catch  you  peddling  you  soft  asshole 
round  I  whip  you  hoe  ass  good." 

There  are  arbitrary  and  vain  subterfuges,  unsupported  by  any  sound  reason; 
positive  punishment  is  the  natural  recompense  of  evil.  Besides,  due  pro- 
portion between  punishment  and  demerit  would  be  rendered  impossible 
by  an  indiscriminate  annihilation  of  all  the  wicked. 

(Neumann  talking  about  his  dead  friend  GeorgI:) 

"He  used  to  think  that  man  has  some  essential  faculty  that  he  has  never 
used,  whose  existence  he  hardly  suspects  ..." 

"You  mean  telepathy,  or  something  like  that?"  [Asked  Zwelg.] 

"That  is  what  Georgi  meant.  I  am  not  sure.  That  is  not  how  the  problem 
came  to  me.  Let  me  tell  you  how  it  first  came  to  me.  You  remember  how 
we  were  always  having  electricity  cuts  and  gas  cuts  in  Heidelberg,  with 
half  the  workers  on  strike?  Well,  one  day,  my  father  put  on  a  kettle  to 
make  coffee,  but  the  gas  was  very  low,  and  it  took  nearly  an  hour  to  boil. 
My  father  was  trying  to  write  an  article  for  a  psychological  journal  at  the 
same  time.  Suddenly  he  looked  up  and  said:  'My  brain  is  like  that  kettle — 
it  won't  boil.'  And  in  a  flash  it  came  to  me:  that  is  what  is  wrong  with  all 
human  consciousness.  The  pressure  is  so  low  that  it  never  boils.  We  live 
at  half  pressure.  We  are  all  psychologically  undernourished  because  the 
pressure  of  consciousness  is  so  low. 

".  .  .  for  the  most  part,  we  are  like  dynamos  that  turn  infinitely  slow 
because  they  are  fed  by  a  mere  trickle  of  electricity.  Now  the  problem  that 
occurred  to  me  was  this:  what  is  the  source  of  the  electric  current  that 
drives  us?  .  .  ." 

...  it  took  Zweig  a  few  moments  to  realize  that  he  was  expected  to 
answer.  He  said  slowly: 

"The  source?  Energy  .  .  ,  will  power,  I  suppose  .  .  ." 

Neumann  cut  in:  "Quite  .  .  ."* 

Now  the  hour  of  sunset  was  near,  for  a  good  deal  of  time  had  passed 
while  he  was  within.  When  he  came  out  he  sat  down  with  us  again  but 
not  much  was  said. 

P  08348         WHITE,  William  Edward 
Crime:  Sell  Dang  Drug 
Sentence:  5-Life 
Judge:  J.  Seagram  • 

DA:  A.  Linkletter:  PD 

And  finally,  if  men  knew  that  their  sins  would  not  be  followed  by  sufferings, 
the  mere  threat  of  annihilation  at  the  moment  of  death,  and  still  less  the 


*  Quite  wrong.  The  energy  is    eros.  WHAT  IS    NEUMANN  WITHOUT  WEU- 
MANN? 


47 


prospect  of  a  somewhat  lower  degree  of  beatitude,  would  not  suffice  to 
deter  them  from  sin. 

P  08349         BLACK,  Freddie  King 

Crime:  Robb  lst/211  PC 
Sentence:  5-Life 
Judge:  J.  Dillon 
DA:  H.  Dollar 


48 


April  2     70     Chino 


Me  surrounded  by  glow  of  optimism.  But  sometimes  el  wears 
off. 

Young  inmates  shine  on  me  with  love  'n  admiration. 

Olders  watch  to  see  who  mayam.  Some  suspiciously.  Politi- 
cal and  religious  prisoners  disturbing  puzzle  to  a  honest 
journey-man  thief. 

Older  trustee  look  at  me  during  lecture.  "I  don't  approve  of 
all  this  drug  stuff  the  kids  are  into.  I  drink  booze.  I'm  a  thief 
and  a  damn  good  one.  Except  for. .  . .  I  . . .  But  I'm  an  American 
and  I  sympathize  with  parents  of  teen-agers  who  are  upset 
about  drugs.  If  I  had  teen-age  kids  and  they  were  into  drugs 
and  I  thought  you  encouraged  them  I'd  have  no  hesitation  in 
shooting  you  in  cold  blood." 

The  counselors  (caseworkers  who  have  great  authority  in 
determining  which  prison  an  inmate  is  sent  to)  very  down  on 
drug  cases.  Thit  throw  crook-book  at  kids  who  turn  on.  "At 
least  an  armed  robber  or  a  murderer  has  guts.  You  drug  users 
are  cowardly  escapists. 

Every  inmate  has  a  file,  called  "jacket."  When  interviewed 
by  legion  evaluators  of  mortal  and  immortal  sins,  staffworker 
endless  reading  your  file.  Frown,  flip  pages.  Eye  sit  quietly 
with  maya  papers  in  lap  and  make  me  own  notes. 

The  few  men  who,  despite  morally  universal  conviction  of  the  human  race, 
deny  the  existence  of  hell,  are  mostly  atheists  and  Epicureans.  But  if  the 
view  of  such  men  in  the  fundamental  question  of  our  being  could  be  the 
true  one,  apostasy  would  be  the  way  to  light,  truth,  and  wisdom. 

ORIENTATION  LECTURE  DELIVERED  BY  A  FROWNING  PER- 
MANENT WORK  CREW  TRUSTEE 

Listen  to  a  word  of  warning.  Warning.  Warning. 
Have  cooperate.  Have  a  cope  a  rate.  Cope  a  rate. 
Know  whats  good  for  you.  Good  for  you.  Cope  a  rate  is 

good  for  you. 
That  what  you  are  sposed  to  do.  Posed  to  do.  Do  what 

you  are  posed  to  do. 


49 


Way  that  you  conduct  yourself. 

In-mate  conduct  observation  way  that  inmate  duct  him  self. 

Termines  gonna  happy  you. 

Term  ends  what  to  happen  you. 

Only  fools  don't  bay  the  rules. 

Don't  be  fools  Obey  da  rules. 

Protestant  catholic  chaplains  here. 

Chaplains  here. 

Chaplains  do  not  work  for  church  ...  I  mean  they  do  not 

work  for  state. 
Paid  by  church. 
Chaplains  do  things.  Things  for  you.  Do  things  no  one  else 

can  do. 
Contact  for  you  relatives.  Refatives.  They  contact  your 

relatives. 
If  you  belong  to  religion  other  than  Catholic  or  Protestant. 
If  you  want  to  push  it. 
They'll  get  a  chaplain  of  your  faith. 
To  come  and  see  you. 

YOUR  LETTER  IS  RETURNED  FOR  THE  REASON(s) 
CHECKED  BELOW:  YOUR  QUOTA  OF  FREE  MAIL  FOR 
THE  WEEK  IS  EXHAUSTED. 

Caseworkers  in  Texas,  in  Santa  Ana,  very  disturbed  because 
not  remember  me  Army  serial  number. 

P  08350         BLACK,  George  Patrick 

Crime:  Poss  Narc/  11500  H  &  S 
Sentence:  2-10 
Judge:  S.  T.  Black 
DA:  J.  Carstairs 

Crew-cut  hoodlum  hand  me  poem: 

I  left  my  prison  cell  and  went  into  the  yeard 

I'd  better  walk  or  get  it  from  the  guard 

A  tall  fair  man  sat  under  the  shade  of  a  tree  {sic) 

He  said,  "Hi."  And  I  knew  it  was  Thimothy  Leary 

He  took  off  his  jacket  and  folded  It  tight 

And  said,  "Its  a  nice  day.  Everything's  going 

to  be  all  right." 
He  is  In  here,  accused  of  smoking  a  thing  called  pot 
And  has  been  sentenced  "one  to  ten."  That  Is  a  lot. 
He  is  a  slender  man  and  hair  of  grey 
A  fragile  man,  but  set  in  his  way 
He  picks  up  two  dumb-bells  to  build  up  his  arms 
That's  an  amazing  man,  with  so  much  charm 
Seems  to  be  everywhere,  even  playing  hand  ball 

50 


A  man  without  violence,  walking  down  the  hall 

Prisons  are  to  keep  "bad"  off  the  street 

And  his  sentent,  to  some,  was  quite  a  treat 

You  know,  if  I  were  in  charge  of  this  prison  place 

I'd  say,  "Mr.  Leary,  put  a  big  smile  on  your  face. 

You  know  no  violence,  and  this  I  must  say 

Be  gone,  good  man,  be  on  your  own  way." 

Now  one  free  soul 

Leave  this  prison  freed  of  old  Karma 

Holding  together  brings  new  union 

ATTENTION  ON  THE  YARD:  LEARY  670:  STOP  KIDDING 
YOURSELF  YOU  ARE  NOT  GOING  TO  BE  RELEASED  ON 
BAIL  FACE  REALITY  YOU  ARE  IN  PRISON  FOR  TWENTY 
YEARS 

Seed  of  paranoia  sprouting.  Watch  it  idly.  Get  interested  in 
growth  possiblity.  Cultivate  it.  Watch  it  blossom. 

YOUR  WIFE  AND  LAWYERS  TELL  YOU  THAT  YOU'LL 
BE  RELEASED  IN  TWO  WEEKS  BUT  READ  BETWEEN  THE 
LINES  THEY  DON'T  TELL  YOU  WHAT'S  REALLY  HAPPEN- 
ING 

Wait  all  day  for  lawyers  to  come.  Thread  of  love  and  life 
out  of  here.  Need  it.  Need  it.  Nervous.  Palms  sweat.  No  appe- 
tight  breakfast.  Smoke  another  chain.  Distracted  hand  ball. 
Too  jumpy  to  yoga.  Can't  stay  still.  Move.  Walk. 

ATTENTION  ON  THE  YARD.  SMITH  352  REPORT  TO  THE 
SERGEANT'S  OFFICE  YOU  HAVE  A  VISIT  LEARY,  PLEASE 
EXAMINE   THE   FACTS     YOU   ARE    FINISHED 

III.  Eternity  of  Hell:  Holy  Writ  is  quite  explicit  in  teaching  the  eternity  of 
the  pains  of  hell.  The  torments  of  the  damned  shall  last  forever  and  ever. 

On  third  tear  waiting  for  cell  to  open,  looking  out  at  lawn  in 
front  of  visitors  entrance.  In  the  sunlight.  Free  people  coming 
and  going.  Waiting. 

Back  on  yard.  Can't  read.  Pray.  Om.  Waiting  for  loud 
speaker. 

ATTENTION  ON  THE  YARD.  MERCURIC  44  UPPER,  ALEGRO 
399  LOWER  YOU  MEN  REPORT  TO  Y'OUR  COUNSELOR 
IMMEDIATELY  LEARY  YOU  HAD  SO  MANY  CHANCES  AND 
YOU  BLEW  THEM  ALL  ISN'T  IT  OBVIOUS  WHAT  IS  HAP- 
PENING 

P  08351         MOTLEY,  Herbert  Milton 
Crime:  Burg  1st  /459  PC 
Sentence:  5-Life 
Judge:  8.  Roebuck 
DA:  M.  Fields 

51 


Less  rest.  Walk  more.  Talk  to  Methedrine  Freddie.  Sweet 
agitated  tenderness.  El  says:  I  prayed  for  you  seven  days  in 
row.  Willie  Mays  calls  to  baseball.  Come  Tim  play.  See  Tim 
play  third  base.  See  Tim  catch  ball.  Friendly  hoots  from  op- 
ponents. See  Tim  throw  out  runner  at  second.  Willie  bat  me 
first.  Swing  wild  first  two.  Fast  throwing  giant  Black  ease  up. 
Toss  me  easy  long  fly.  Willie  Madden  comes.  "I  got  deeply 
involved  in  your  quarrel  with  Tom  Lynn."  Frown  sincere.  "I 
waited  a  long  time  before  I  hung  that  snitch  jacket  on  Lynn. 
He's  a  liar.  Man,  before  you  came  to  the  county*  jail  he  wore 
his  hair  like  us  low  riders.  When  you  came  he  let  it  go  hippy. 
Man,  when  I  get  out  of  here  I  can  never  touch  a  gun." 

"What  will  you  do?" 

"Maybe  I'll  become  a  pimp."  Grin  devilly.  "I'll  be  your  body 
guard.  You  know.  When  I'd  hold  up  stores,  the  thing  I  always 
used  to  enjoy  was  the  expression  on  their  faces.  When  they'd 
look  up  and  see  the  gun.  I  felt  so  much  power.  They  were  so 
surprised.  It  used  to  make  me  laugh  and  laugh." 

P  08352         BLACKMAN,  Terry  Roe 

Crime:  Dish  Firearm  at  Vehicle  /  23110 
Sentence:  6mo-5 
Judge:  J.  Colt 
DA:  S.  Winchester 

ATTENTION  ON  THE  YARD.  LEARY,  YOU  ARE  NOT  GO- 
ING TO  GET  A  VISIT  TODAY  OR  TOMORROW   EITHER. 

Every  LSD  experimenter  knows  there  is  one  perspective  of 
awareness  from  which  everything  looks  grey-black.  Lifeless. 
Interminate.  Unbroken  chain  of  love-failure,  selfish  rejections, 
waste. 

YOUR  LETTER  IS  RETURNED  FOR  THE  REASON(s) 
CHECKED  BELOW:  BEGGING  FOR  LOVE  OR  PUTTING 
TOO   MUCH   STRESS   ON   THE   NEED    FOR   SAME. 

THE  WRATH   OF ^ABIDETH   ON   THE    DAMNED. 

Sitting  on  bunk  making  Bad-Karma  list.  The  heavens  for- 
feited. Love  blooms  blighted.  Trusts  betrayed.  Poignant  invita- 
tions spurned.  Moments,  days,  years  neglected. 

Every  memory  fits  into  black  structure.  How  could  I  have 
been  so  blind?  Oh  God,  did  I  really  do  that?  Why  didn't  I  see 
it. 

All  past  events  iron  filings  click  into  perfect  magnetic  para- 
noia. You  just  went  out  of  your  way  to  ruin  it.  How  patient  they 
have  been  to  put  up  with  me  so  long.  But  this  one  is  too  much. 
Final  blunder  In  the  long  blind  repetitious  pattern. 


52 


Check  list  of  eighteen  ominous  forboding  events. 

Sit  on  bunk  smoking  chains  of  cigarettes  watching  self  busily 
weave  dark  pattern.  Irrepressible  creative  imagination  now 
busy  sliding  warp  of  implication  across  thick  fibres  of  specu- 
lation. Poor  crazy  Bonnie.  Now  I  know  how  she  suffered.  She 
couldn't  stop  lunatic  loom. 

Bolt  of  sunlight  slant  across  cell.  Love  smiles  in  room.  Yo 
laugh.  Warmth  in  body.  Tense  muscles  relax.  Laughing.  Pick 
up  list  of  eighteen  grim  indictments  along  left  margin  quickly 
check  off  tender  loving  interpretation. 

Pulled  off  grey  dry  covering  and  there  in  me  hand  was  flower 
more  beautiful  than  it  had  ever  been. 

Slept  soundly  and  sweetly. 

Thank  you  love. 

P  08353         GRAY,  Clifford  Dale 

Crime:  L  &  L  Conduct 
Sentence:  1-Life 
Judge:  M.  Mitchell 
DA:  M.  West 

"Is  it  a  drug?"  [Asked  Zweig.] 

"Not  in  the  normal  sense.  You  see,  a  drug  affects  the  body  by  exciting 
and  stimulating,  but  also  by  reducing  its  efficiency.*  For  example,  that 
whiskey  is  a  kind  of  drug.  It  gives  you  a  feeling  of  internal  warmth,  but  * 
it  also  blankets  all  your  perceptions  .  .  .  Now  the  stuff  you've  just  tried 
doesn't  repress  or  stimulate.  It  simply  clears  away  certain  obstacles  and 
allows  your  energy  system  to  operate  without  waste  or  friction." 

Soon  the  jailer  entered  and  stood  by  him,  saying:  "To  you  Socrates,  whom 
I  know  to  be  the  noblest  and  gentlest  and  best  of  all  who  ever  came  to 
this  place,  I  will  not  impute  the  angry  feelings  of  other  men,  who  rage  and 
swear  at  me,  when,  in  obedience  to  the  authorities,  I  bid  them  drink  the 
poison." 

P  08354         GRIS,   Russell  Joseph 

Crime:  Burg  2nd  (Prov  Rev)  &  GTA  w/PFC  CC  459 

&   487.3   PC 
Sentence:  6mo-15  &  6mo-10  CC 
Judge:  H.  Ford 
DA:  J.  Dollar:  PD 

The  Church  professes  its  faith  in  the  eternity  of  the  pains  of  hell  in  clear 
terms  in  the  Athanasian  Creed  and  in  countless'  passages  of  its  liturgy. 
The  Church  never  prays  for  the  damned.  Hence,  beyond  the  possibility  of 
a  doubt,  the  Church  expressly  teaches  the  eternity  of  the  pains  of  hell 
as  a  truth  of  faith  which  no  one  can  deny  or  call  into  question  without 
manifest  heresy. 

*  This  sentence  does  not  take  into  account  methedrine  which  does  increase 
short-range   efficiency,    while    completely   destroying    long-range    efficiency. 


53 


April  3     70     Chino 


Racial  segregation  in  assigning  two-man  cells.  White  with 
white.  Black  with  Black.  Chicano  with  Chicane.  Age  discrimina- 
tion two.  Young  with  young.  Prehibit  older  cons  seducing 
tender  young.  "Old  prison-wise  cons  lean  heavy  cane  on  fresh 
young  kid.  Scare  him.  Or  bribe  him  with  cigarettes." 

After  dinner  walk  to  athletic  Black  leans  over  third  tier 
railing  looking  out  dirty  windows  to  sunset  lawn  below.  Cabin 
class  deck  of  a  slow  time-liner  going  no  where.  "Here  we  are 
again." 

Waiting  for  Vacaville  chain.  Pumps  me  information  about 
"girls"  there.  Dreaming  of  a  Vacaville  bawdy  sexual  paradise. 
Eye  sing  a  song  of  sex  pense. 

"In-chanting  Black  queen  likes  Vacaville  because  cells  have 
mirrors.  Dig." 

"Oh  mercy  me,"  bellows.  "Cain't  wait  to  meet  those  luscious 
young  ladies  at  Vacaaaaaa-veel!  I'm  gonna  walk  up  there  with 
my  dick  in  mah  hann." 

Comedian  bulls.  One  tramples  by,  shoulders  hunched  in- 
mane.  "Timothy.  Want  me  to  help  you  get  out  of  here?" 

"Sure." 

"O.K.  I  gotta  great  lawyer  I'll  get  to  help  you." 

"Thanks." 

He  walked  past  my  cell;  then  reappeared  going  down  the 
stairs. 

"Except,  I  gotta  get  him  out  first.  Hah.  Hah.  Hah." 

Just  as  — must  appoint  some  fixed  term  for  the  time  of  trial,  it  is 

appropriate  that  after  the  expiration  of  that  term  the  wicked  will  be  cut 
off  from  all  hope  of  conversion   and   happiness.   For  the  malice  of  men 

cannot  compel  to  prolong  the  appointed  time  of  probation  and  to 

grant  them  again  and  again,  without  end,  the  power  of  deciding  their  lot 
for  eternity. 

Morning  Bull  asks  me  for  me  autograph.  Me  pen  name.  I 
agree,  but  forget. 

A  few  days  later  it  asks  me  again.  It  explain  that  it  collect 
autographs  of  famous  cons.   Pen  pals.  Someday  they'll   be 


54 


worth  a  lot  of  money.  It  shows  slip  of  paper  on  which  Chicano, 
famous  for  winning  a  landmark  Supreme  Court  case,  writ  senti- 
mental message  In  Spanish. 

Mexican  finish  fifteenth  year  prison.  Winning  case  blue 
chance  for  parole  on  earlier  beef. 

Autograph  request  weigh  mind  unwritten  duty.  Sanskrit, 
FREEDOM  EVERYWHERE  FOR  EVERYONE  over  maya  name. 

Guard  pleased. 

P  08355         BROWNING,  Emilio  Jesus 

Crime:  Poss  Mari  For  Sale  (Prob  Rev)  &  Consp  T/C 

Robb  1st  &  Sell  Mari  Alt  CS/  11530  H  &  S  & 

182  PC 
Sentence:  2-10  &  5-Life  2  cts  AII-CS 
Judge:  J.  Edgar 
DA:  J.  Crow 

That  means  he  does  ten  years  and  then  one  five  to  life  and 
then  another  five  to  life  on  top? 

Yeah.  Running  wild.  He  down  for  long  count. 

Willie  Mays  wear  Catholic  metal  medal  Mary  Mother,  Baby, 
Radiant  god.  Yo  admire  La.  El  got  in  Federal  joint.  El  has 
another  which  el  give  yo.  Yo  wear  La  all  time.  Catholic  medal 
from  Black  Hippie  Buddhist  worn  honor  me  Mary  Full  of  Grace. 

Willie  Mays:  "The  day  you  won  your  case  in  the  Supreme 
Court,  one  guy  in  the  Federal  Joint  fired  off  a  writ  citing  'Leary.' 
Judge  fired  it  back  saying  premature.  So  then  318  guys  on 
marijuana  beefs  got  together  and  wrote  one  writ  and  signed 
all  their  names  to  it  and  in  a  couple  of  weeks  it  came  back 
granted!  Three  hundred  and  sixteen  out  of  three  hundred  and 
eighteen  got  cut  loose  right  on  the  spot.  Man  that  joint  was 
jumping  with  joy.  But  two  guys  didn't  get  It.  They  were  sad." 

Any  obligation  to  act  in  this  manner  would  be  unworthy  of ,  because 

it  would  make  dependent  upon  the  caprice  of  human  efficacy,  and 

would  offer  the  amplest  scope  and  the  strongest  incentives  to  human 
presumption. 


55 


April  5     70     Chino 


Woke  dawn.  Sitting  bed,  heard  birds  singing.  Moment  to 
realize.  Great  God,  here  birds  singing!  Looked  out  soar  two 
swallows  flying  by  third  floor  cell.  Cheer  warbling.  One  flew 
to  railing  just  outside  maya  cell.  Perched  there  look  at  man. 

Watched  fifteen  minute.  Carrying  strings  in  beaks.  Billdlng 
nest  under  high  window. 

Miracle  life.  I'll  build  a  nest  for  tu,  love. 

We  are  all  wild  birds,  caged.  Something  dies  a  bird  in- 
prisoned.  Praised  God  for  loving  reminder. 

P  08356         BIBLE,  Walter  Michael 

Crime:  Murder  1st  /187  PC 
Sentence:  Life 
Judge:  C.  Abel 
DAT  S.  Winchester 

FLIGHT  COLLAR  CRIME 

Lunched  celebrity  today. 

Legendary  hero  flied  brand-new  17  million  dollar  escape- 
proof  Orange  County  jail. 

With  visiting  room  crowded  hundred  people  friends  un- 
screwed bolts  separate  inmates  visitors.  El  scramble  through, 
put  on  sweater  walked  out  front  of  guards. 

"Had  my  rubber  issue  shower  shoes  on." 

That  evening  sit  stoned  friends  apartment  watch  television 
replay  of  run  for  freedom. 

"And  they  caught  you  right  back  in  your  home  town,  I  bet." 

Nodded  yes. 

"God  man!  You're  such  a  hero!  You'll  be  talked  about  as 
long  as  there  is  a  police  state.  Why  didn't  you  split?" 

"I  did,  man.  Went  to  Hawaii.  But  I  couldn't  make  it  there. 
No  stuff." 

"No  stuff  In  Hawaii?" 

"There  was  plenty  of  acid  and  grass  but  no  stuff.  I  was 
hooked." 

"You  mean  you  got  hooked  after  you  so  brilliantly  unhooked 
yourself?" 

"Well  my  mistake  was,  I  was  still  hooked  when  I  went  in  and 


56 


I  brought  enough  in  with  me  to  keep  cool  for  two  days  and 

then  I  escaped.  I  had  to  escape  cause  I  was  hooked." 
"How  did  you  get  the  stuff  through  body  inspection?" 
"I  had  it  in  my  body.  My  mistake  was,  I  should  have  waited 

in  jail  until  I  had  kicked  and  then  escaped.  I'd  be  in  Hawaii 

right  now  if  I  had." 
He  was  twenty-one.  Hollywood  handsome.  Poised.  Gently 

humorous.  Faced  seven  years  minimum  with  in-nured  shrug. 

The  objection  is  made  that  there  is  no  proportion  between  the  brief  moment 
of  sin  and  an  eternal  punishment.  But  why  not?  We  certainly  admit  a 
proportion  between  a  momentary  good  deed  and  its  eternal  reward,  not, 
it  is  true,  a  proportion  of  duration,  but  a  proportion  between  the  law  and 
its  appropriate  sanction. 

P  08357         BLACK,  Willie  Ted 

Crime:  Vol  Manslaughter 
Sentence:  6mo-10 
Judge:  P.  Colt 
DA:  J.  Carstairs 

It  is  well  konwn  to  everyone  (including  the  Blacks)  but  for 
sake  of  anthropological  completeness  lie  file  the  Item.  The 
male  Afro-American  possesses  a  root  which,  on  average,  is 
twice  size  of  Europeen. 


57 


April  7     70     Chino 


P  08358         TANNY,  Cleophus  Ronnie 

Crime:  Kidnap  &  Robb  1st  2  cts  All  CC  207  &  211  PC 
Sentence:  1-25  &  5-Life,  2  cts  All  CC 
Judge:  E.  J.  Younger 
DA:  C.  Hicks 

POLITE  WHITE  COLLAR  CRIME 

Attended  group  counseling  session  today.  Recalled  time 
when  eye  California  forty-niner  pioneer  development  this  new 
reckless  radical  form  of  psychoanalysis.  Psychiatrists  de- 
nounce me  advocating  promiscuous,  indiscriminate  abuse  of 
psychoanalytic  principles  without  supervision  of  medical  doc- 
tor. 

Idea  of  "treating"  several  patients  at  once  shocking  as  wife- 
swapping  orgy.  State  of  California  Department  of  Corrections 
once  paid  me  consulting  fee  give  lecture  demonstrations  on 
daring  innovation. 

Karma.  Karma.  For  every  evil  we  deed,  we  will  due  again, 
walked  in  room  where  42  FORTY-TWO  prisonees  captive  by 
two  heavily  harmed  psychologists.  Grim  lady  sit  front  angry 
looking  Bill  Graham  chewing  pipe-stem  rear. 

Prisonees  raise  justifiable  and  logical  problems  about  parole 
system.  How  can  you  be  completely  honest  with  an  officer 
who  will,  If  you  are  completely  honest,  slam  you  back  in 
prison? 

During  complaints  lady  psychologist  shake  it  head,  slow 
sigh  purse  it  mouth.  Public  defend  her  parole  system.  Herd  it 
all  before.  "Parole  officers  really  want  you  stay  on  the  street." 
You  stupid  fool. 

Angry  psychologist  reflexively  turn  question  back  against 
speaker.  "Have  you  always  been  suspicious  of  people  who  try 
to  help  you?  Were  you  suspicious  of  your  father  and  your 
school  principle?" 

Accordingly,  there  is  in  sin  an  approximation  to  infinite  malice  which  de- 
serves an  eternal  punishment. 

A  Willie  Mays  story.  When  fourteen  Mother  found  twenty 
joints  in  pocket.  Gave  them  back.  Promised  never  to  bring 


58 


grass  into  house.  Smoke  them  in  garage.  Asked  her  to  join 
but  wouldn't. 

Mother  found  out  little  brother  dropping  acid.  Got  upset. 
Brother  explained  love  and  peace  and  feeling  good  and  Beatles 
and  the  new  religion.  Mother  understood. 

Figured  out  that  same  people  who  didn't  like  Blacks  were 
putting  hippies  down  same  way  they  put  niggers  down.  Liked 
way  hippies  walked  barefoot  and  gave  peace  sign  carried  their 
children  with  them. 

Kid  brother  took  Mother  to  Be  In.  Mother  agreed  to  drop  half 
a  tab.  To  see  what  it  was  like.  When  home  was  laughing  said, 
"Now  I  know  what  it's  like." 

When  she  came  to  see  him  at  prison  she  looked  in  her  purse 
to  find  a  pencil  and  the  other  half  of  the  tab  was  there  in  her 
coin  purse.  Ate  it  laughing. 

Finally  it  must  be  remembered  that,  although  the  act  of  sinning  is  brief, 
the  guilt  of  sin  remains  forever;  for  in  the  next  life  the  sinner  never  turns 
away  from  his  sin  by  a  sincere  conversion. 

P  08359         WESTMORLAND,  Elton  Ray 
Crime:  Murder  2nd  /187  PC 
Sentence:  5-Life 
Judge:  B.  McMillan 
DA:  E.  J.  Younger 

Sitting  on  grass  do  yoga.  Three  young  acid  dealers  doing  five 
to  life  come  talk.  Taken  so  much  acid  get  flash  back  at  will. 
Lie  in  bunks  hallucinate  on  ceiling.  Wave  hands  get  optical 
trails. 

One,  pro-football  heroic,  born  on  my  birthday.  Brother  born 
same  day  a  year  after  him.  Big  telepathy  thing  after  acid. 

Told  this  story.  Brothers  share  same  bedroom.  Slept  on 
single  beds.  Heads  close  together  in  corner.  Two  nights  In  a 
row  had  disturbing  dream.  Brothers  age  34  and  33.  Driving  in 
mountains  in  red  sports  car.  Brother  at  wheel.  Car  went  off 
road  turned  over  several  times.  Smash.  Died  at  once  but  dis- 
embodied, watch  ambulance  come  take  brother  to  hospital. 
Where  died  too. 

Second  morning  told  dream  to  Mother  at  breakfast.  Later 
brother  came  down  and  told  Mother  about  the  same  dream. 
Never  ride  in  red  sports  car  together. 

Asked  if  he  had  telepathic  experience  with  acid. 

"Oh  sure  all  the  time.  The  girl  I  went  with,  my  dealing 
partner,  accurately  predicted  three  police  raids.  We  had  just 
stashed  the  stuff  and  split  as  they  drove  up." 

"How  old  is  she?" 

"Fifteen." 


59 


P  08360         SALVADOR,  Jesus 

Crime:  Fraud   Ross  CompI  Check  (Prob  Rev)   &  PT 

w/PFC  2  cts  All  CC 
Sentence:  6mo-14  &  6mo-5,  2  cts  Ail  CC 
Judge:  B.  Graham 
DA:  I.  M.  Downs 

"What's  happening?" 

"I'm  waiting  for  my  lawyer  to  come." 

"Yeah,  man.  Lawerrors  always  keep  you  waiting." 

It  is  further  objected  that  the  sole  object  of  punishment  must  be  to  reform 
the  evil-doer.  This  is  not  true.  Besides  punishment  inflicted  for  correction, 
there  are  also  punishments  for  the  satisfaction  of  justice. 

PLIGHT  COLLAR  CRIME 
Each  day  stories  heartbreaking  cruel  and  sad. 
At  lunch.  Beautiful  young  black  haired  boy  of  nineteen. 
At  Newport  Pop  Festival.  Cops  started  a  riot.  Long-haired  kid 
threw  rock  cop  and  fell  on  its  nose.  Cops  started  search.  In 
parking  lot  didn't  know  there  was  riot.  Cops  came  up  and  said, 
"That's  the  one."  Booked  for  assault  on  police  officer  with 
dangerous  weapon.  When  cop  gets  wounded  thits  really  go  all 
out  to  hang  it  on  someone.  Have  no  money  and  Father  be- 
lieved cops.  Father  hated  hippies.  Kid  had  public  de-mender 
talked  to  him  for  less  than  five  minutes.  Got  five  to  life.  So 
depressed,   bleak,   incredulous,  stunned,   disbelieving,   dazed 
sorrow  that  him  story  had  to  be  true.  Five  years  before  gets  to 
see  the  parole  board.  Five  years.  Age  nineteen  to  twenty  four. 

Letters  very  important  to  prisoner  who  has  outside  love  tie. 
But  outside  love  ties  are  impossible  and  sensible  inmate  im- 
mediately detaches  from  his  exmate.  (Go  wild  crazy  berserk.) 

PC  Box  #441 
Chine,  California 
April  7,  1970 
Dear  Friends: 

I  awoke  yesterday  (the  44th  day  of  captivity)  to  the  sound  of 
birds  singing. 

There  is  a  large  open  area  In  front  of  the  three-story  cell  block. 
Two  thrushes  were  doing  their  spring  thing  —  building  a  nest  on 
a  high  window  ledge  —  inside  the  prison! 

What  a  beautiful  reassuring  sign  from  the  great  life-love  center. 
One  of  the  birds  flew  to  my  cell  and  cocked  her  head  and  sang 
a  morning  song. 

I  miss  Rosemary  so  much,  all  ways.  That  Is,  of  course,  the  only 
imprisonment  —  to  be  away  from  your  love. 

This  experience  has  been  some  trip!  It's  very  much  like  the 
Dante  bad  vision.  Momentary  separation  from  love.  Everything 
looks,  sounds,  tastes,  feels  different.  Get  back!  Get  me  back  to 
where  I  belong! 


60 


I've  kept  a  diary  —  listened,  learned  —  so  much.  I'll  be  writing 
about  it. 

Prison  is  an  experimental  laboratory  for  all  the  emotional  and 
social  problems.  It's  so  clear-cut  here.  So  diagrammatic.  So  easy 
to  observe  the  forces  that  wrench  us  apart  and  bring  us  together. 
It's  been  a  revelatory  event. 

It's  not  entirely  new  to  me.  You  recall  that  while  at  Harvard 
we  took  LSD  over  30  times  in  prison  with  long-term  inmates. 
There  is  a  lot  more  that  I  can  do  to  liberate.  The  solution  to 
society's  problem  is  prisoner  liberation.  (The  classic  jargon  of 
penology  —  punishment,  reform,  rehabilitation  —  is  nonsense. 
We  must  all  be  liberated  on  both  sides  of  the  bars.) 

We  do  need  your  love  and  support.  I'd  like  to  summarize  the 
legal  situation  briefly  —  there  is  so  much  inaccurate  reporting. 

1.  Laredo:  The  Federal  Dept.  of  Justice  brought  me  back  to 
Texas  and  re-tried  me  on  the  1965  case.  This  involves  less  than 
one-half  ounce  of  marijuana  which  (unknown  to  me)  my  daughter 
possessed.  I  took  the  responsibility  and  was  convicted.  (On  the 
basis  of  my  own  statements.)  Michael  B.  Standard  of  New  York 
is  appealing  this  case.  The  sentence  is  a  flat  ten  years  for  being 
in  the  car  where  grass  was  present. 

2.  Santa  Ana:  I  was  convicted  of  possession  of  marijuana  — 
based  on  fragments  in  my  pockets  and  two  roaches  in  the  ashtray 
of  the  car  (not  my  car).  IMichael  B.  Kennedy  of  San  Francisco  is 
handling  this  appeal. 

Anyone  else  would  have  been  cut  loose  on  both  of  these  petty 
charges.  Still,  the  government  is  not  behaving  illegally  in  trying, 
sentencing  me  to  20  years  —  the  law  prescribes  these  terms! 

HOWEVER  —  the  refusal  to  provide  appeal  bond  is  completely 
illegal.  Both  the  Federal  and  the  Santa  Ana  judges  jailed  me 
pending  appeal  on  the  explicit  grounds  of  my  public  statements, 
openly  violating  my  1st  Amendment  rights  (free  speech),  my  6th 
Amendment  rights  (convicted  of  being  a  dangerous  person  without 
a  trial  or  hearing  of  fact),  and  my  8th  Amendment  rights  to 
reasonable  bail.  "He  preached  it  the  length  and  breadth  of  the 
land."  "Insidious  menace."  "Pleasure-seeking,  irresponsible,  Madi- 
son Avenue  advocate  .  .  ."  Etc. 

The  three  specific  complaints  of  the  Santa  Ana  judge  and  the 
D.A.  were  a  Free  Press  article  and  two  Playboy  issues.  The  judge 
referred  to  my  1968  Playboy  article  and  the  D.A.  to  the  1966 
interview.  In  other  words,  I  am  in  prison  now  for  being,  among 
other  things,  a  Playboy  correspondent. 

I've  done  quite  a  bit  of  writing  —  and  as  soon  as  I'm  released 
I'll  send  you  some  words. 

Love  and  freedom  to  you  all. 

Tim  Leary 


61 


April  8     70     Chino 


Lifting  dumb-bells.  Inaudible  yoga.  Keen-aesthetic.  Trick  is 
to  lift  until  point  of  delicious  pain-strain.  Feel  biceps  moving, 
surging  with  blood  and  energy.  Muscle  sound  seething  with 
pleasure.  Stroke  them.  Groove  behind  lingam  power. 

PARSON  WEEMS 
Parson  Weems 
So  it  seems 
Had  footloose  dreams 
Utopian  schemes 
Liked  to  drink  his  water 
From  fresh  forest  streams 

Well  born  son  of  Merry  Land 
Been  brought  up  abroad 

Ordained  minister  of  the  High  Episcopal  Church  of  Eng- 
land 
But  born  to  wander 
Cut  loose  slaves 

Hit  the  road  with  loving  woman  in  beat-up  folk's  wagon 
Hustling  books  and  God 
Long  hair  flying  wind 
Down  Carolinas  to  hot,  dusty  Georgia 
Camping  out 
Bathing  naked  in  forest  streams 

Parson  Weems 

So  it  seems 

Had  footloose  dreams 

Utopian  schemes 

Liked  to  drink  his  water 

From  forest  streams 

Sitting  round  the  campfire 
Fiddling  for  his  bride 
Dip  feathered  pen  in  battered  ink  horn 
Righting  down  his-stories 
Reading  aloud  to  "good  chimney  wife." 
Raging  rivers,  snowy  blizzards,  rainy  bivouacs,  hub-cap 
mud 


62 


No  thing  stopped  this  irresponsible,  itinerant  preacher  of 
the  open  road 

Parson  Weems 

So  it  seems 

Dreamed  Utopian  schemes 

Liked  to  feel  cold  water  from  Cherokee  streams 

Country  fairs,  tide-water  mansion  hospitality 

Checking  in  to  roadside  inns 

Unpacking  crate  of  books 

Bibles,  classics,   pop-favorites,   novels,  Greek  and   Latin 

texts 
And  his  own  funky  biographies  of  George  Washington, 

William  Penn,  Benjamin  Franklin, 
He  worshipped  Great  Folk  God  and  Great  Folk  Heroes  of 

the 
Republic 

Chorus 

He  wrote  as  he  talked,  with  sweep  and  colour,  buoyant,  impulsive,  and 
racy,  by  turns  high-flown,  bombastic,  sprightly,  and  brisk,  recklessly  in- 
different to  facts  but  with  a  full-bodied  zest.  His  images  were  bold  and 
even  Homeric,  and  along  with  his  unblushing  fabrications,  much  of  his 
writings  abounded  in  life  and  truth. 

And  much  of  what  school  children  150  years  ago  later  were 
to  absorb  as  the  mythic  lore  of  American  History  was  to  come 
from  this  long-haired  drop-out. 

THE   NATIONAL  ANTHEM 
The  tune  for  the  Star  Spangled   Banner  was  taken  from 
drinking  song  popular  around  1800.  Some  of  the  verses  com- 
posed in  Baltimore  tavern. 

CHEMICAL  WARFARE 
The  destruction-of  American  Indian  culture  was  not  accom- 
plished by  physical  force.  The  deliberate  strategy  was  psycho- 
pharmacological.  The  specific  tactical  weapon  was  alcohol. 

REBEL  ENZYMES 
The  major  civilizing  agents  of  the  young  American  Republic 
were  refugees  —  fleeing  religious  or  political  repression.  Royal- 
ists, Republicans,  Quakers,  Anarchists,  Utopians,  imaginative 
hustlers.  All  sorts  of  freaks  were  welcome  and  contributed  to 
heterogenous,  nose-thumbing  adventure. 

But  justice  demands  that  whoever  departs  from  the  right  way  in  search 
of  happiness  shall  not  find  his  happiness,  but  lose  it.  The  eternity  of  the 
pains  of  hell  responds  to  this  demand  of  justice. 


63 


Overheard  on  yard  Chino  Reception  and  Guidance  Center: 
"I'd  rather  go  to  Quentin  than  to  Soledad." 

"Joe  looks  down  today." 

"Yeah.  He's  suffering  from  a  loss  of  ncouragement." 

YOUR  LETTER  IS  RETURNED  FOR  THE  REASON(s) 
BELOW:  OFFENSIVE  OR  OBSCENE  REMARKS  OR  MA- 
TERIALS 

Neumann:  "I  have  just  performed  an  experiment  that  may  be  of  incalculable 
consequence  to  the  world,  as  important  as  any  of  the  experiments  of 
Galileo,  Newton,  Rutherford.  Because  I  had  established,  to  my  own  satis- 
faction, the  existence  of  an  unconscious  level  of  purpose  inside  one. 

"Indeed  I  am  sure  that  you  will  not  be  angry  with  me;  for  others,  as  you 
are  aware,  and  not  I  are  the  guilty  cause.  And  so  fare  you  well,  and  try 
to  bear  lightly  what  must  needs  be;  you  know  my  errand,"  Then  bursting 
into  tears  he  turned  away  and  went  out. 

Shorty  teld  a  sad  tale. 
Sandy  cried  tried  a  suicide  and  almost  died. 
How? 

Lit  her  bed  sheets  and  her  clothes.  She  wanted  to  be  in  the 
impatient  hospital.  Prison's  no  place  for  silly,  sissy  girl. 
What  beef  she  riding? 
Heroin.  Hero-in.  Her  or  in. 

THE  NEW  WORLD  VISION 

The  early  American  Republic  dedicated  to  life,  liberty,  and 
the  pursuit  of  happiness,  was  a  radical,  mind-blowing  event 
to  European  intellectuals.  Thomas  Jefferson  was  the  classic 
elegant  hippie.  To  imagine  the  equivalent  effect  today  one 
would  envision  Buckminster  Fuller,  Gene  McCarthy,  John 
Lennon,  Eldridge  Cleaver,  Abbie  Hoffman  being  invited  by  the 
natives  of  an  island  in  the  South  Pacific  to  establish  a  natural 
government. 

The  best  young  psychedelic  minds  of  the  1810s  rightly  re- 
alized that  here  was  rare  opportunity  for  Utopian  visions. 

"They  dreamed  of  leaving  the  old  world  of  falling  thrones  and  rival  an- 
archies to  found  a  pansocratic  society  there.  One  of  them  would  wield  an 
axe,  one  would  guide  a  plough,  and  each  would  work  for  all,  with  posses- 
sions in  common.  In  the  woods  and  wilds  their  wants  would  be  simple 
and  hardy,  and  they  hoped  to  create  a  new  literature  there,  bathed  in  the 
spring  of  life  and  nature,  that  would  restore  the  age  of  innocence." 

This  was  the  free  dream  of  Jeffersonian  democracy.  But  the 
greedy  and  the  unfree  also  came  and  killed  the  Indians  and 
the  dreams  of  innocence. 


64 


But  if threatens  man  with  the  pains  of  hell,  must  also  carry 

out  the  threat  if  man  does  not  heed  it  by  avoiding  sin. 

THE  BODY  POLITIC 

Harmonious  relations  among  men  and  social"  groups  must 
be  based  with  precise  mimicry  upon  the  physiological  laws 
and  neurological  order  of  the  human  body. 

This  is  the  lesson  of  Woodstock.  There,  for  one  physical 
weekend,  a  half  million  souls  acted  like  one  body. 


65 


April  9     70     Chino 


Letters  waiting  gamble  excruciating  pain  game  to  prisoner. 
Thits  put  on  ceil  bars  around  three  in  morning.  If  stay  awake, 
restless  try  to  sleep,  but  watching  for  flash  light  of  guard  you 
are  very  disappointed  when  he  finally  goes  by  your  cell  without 
stopping.  Postage  due. 

RITE  COLLAR  TIME 

Catholic  Mass.  New  ritual  bears  little  resemblance  to  Latin 
sacrifice  of  childhood.  Low  Anglican  church?  English  words 
beautiful  selected  by  wholly  psychedelic  people.  Old  Chaplain, 
ill-at-ease  facing  congregation,  instead  hunching  over,  back  to 
crowd,  frown  to  read  strange  English  hippie  words.  Prison 
Chaplain  classic  priest  type.  Its  tan  betrayed  afternoons  on 
golf  course.  The  church  has  always  felt  comfortable  providing 
religious  reassurances  to  victims  of  social  system. 

Thirty-five-year-old  embezzler  told  great  enthusiasm  experi- 
mental masses,  folk  masses,  home  masses. 

Surprised  when  received  communion.  "You  didn't  go  to 
confession,  did  you?" 

"Hell  no.  The  Sacrifice  of  the  Mass  Is  a  communion  of  the 
people.  We  eat  bread  to  become  one  with  each  other  and 
Christ.  That  old  red-nosed  Chaplain  can't  give  me  absolution 
to  share  communion.  Its  not  his  communion  or  the  bishop's 
or  the  pope's.  It  ours  together  with  God." 

No  one  is  cast  into  hell  unless  he  has  fully  and  entirely  deserved  it. 


66 


April  10     70     Chino 


BLIGHT  COLLAR  CRIME 

Heavy  metal  gloom  overhang  this  griefy  place. 

Guards  walk  through  it  grimly  mine  foremen,  coughing  filter 
cigarette  smoke  forty  hour  week.  Faces  not  happy. 

Inmates  struggle  minute  by  minute,  sunrise  midnight  pushing 
dark  iron  ball  of  sorrow.  Patience  unbelievable.  Human  will 
indominable. 

Blacks  miraculous.  Laughter  song  never  quits.  An  honor  to 
live  with  them.  Chicanes  are  powerful  too.  Obsidian,  Zapotec 
hardness. 

Angry,  self-righteous  judge  sent  me  here  for  being  a  "plea- 
sure seeking  irresponsible." 

The  opposite  of  pleasure  is  pain.  Prison  a  gigantic  metal 
machine  designed  by  pain  engineers. 

The  opposite  of  irresponsible  is  not  responsible  but  rather 
irresponsive.  The  irresponsive  inflict  pain  upon  the  irrespon- 
sible. 

The  sinner  perseveres  in  his  evil  disposition. 

"How  do  you  feel?" 

"Quite  extraordinary."  Zweig  waved  his  hands.  "Astonishingly  clear. 
Everything  you  say  makes  me  want  to  make  a  hundred  comments.  I  feel 
as  if  I  could  write  a  book  in  twenty-four  hours  ...  Do  you  realize  what 
you've  done?  You  have  produced  a  drug  that  could  alter  the  course  of 
world  history  .  .  ." 

Neumann  raised  his  hand,  interrupting  gently: 

"Pardon  me,  but  you  are  mistaken.  Neuromysin  produces  this  effect  on 
you  because  you  have  a  highly  disciplined  mind.  Your  problem  is  that  you 
are  normally  inhibited  by  the  body.  You  try  to  think  and  the  body  drags 
you  down.  It  is  like  trying  to  drive  a  car  with  the  brakes  on.  Neuromysin 
releases  the  brakes.  You  have  spent  fifty  years  disciplining  your  mind  and 
your  emotions.  Even  so,  you  now  show  signs  of  strain  and  overexcitement. 
Imagine  what  would  happen  if  a  completely  undisciplined  person  took  the 
drug.  His  mind  would  be  like  a  zoo  with  all  the  cages  open — total  chaos. 
His  excitement  would  burn  out  the  motor  of  his  brain." 

THIS  PARAGRAPH  REFERS  TO  PROBLEMS  THAT  OCCU- 
PIED SEVERAL  YEARS  OF  OUR  CONTEMPLATION  1960-66. 
PARDON  ME,  DEAR  BROTHER  WILSON.  OUR  PROBLEM   IS 


67 


THAT  WE  ABNORMALLY  INHIBIT  OUR  BODIES  WITH  OUR 
MINDS.  IT'S  A  CONTINUUM  NOT  A  DICHOTOMY  ANYWAY. 
YOU-MANN  KNOW  THAT.  AND  THE  WORD  "LIMIT"  IS  BET- 
TER THAN  INHIBIT.  THE  LIMITING  LADDER  GOES  LIKE  THIS: 

1.  MOLECULES  LIMIT  FREE  ENERGY  CONSCIOUSNESS 

2.  CELLULAR  CONSCIOUSNESS  LIMITS  MOLECULAR 
CONSCIOUSNESS 

3.  BODY  CONSCIOUSNESS  LIMITS  CELLULAR  CON- 
SCIOUSNESS 

4.  SENSORY  CONSCIOUSNESS  LIMITS  BODY  CON- 
SCIOUSNESS 

5.  CONDITIONED  MIND  LIMITS  SENSORY  CONSCIOUS- 
NESS 

6.  IMPRINTED  EMOTIONS  LIMIT  MIND  ^CONSCIOUS- 
NESS 

7.  COMA  LIMITS  EMOTIONAL  CONSCIOUSNESS 

THE  TEST  OF  THIS  HYPOTHETICAL  SYSTEM  IS  SIMPLE 
PSYCHOCHEMISTRY. 

1.  TO  EMOTIONALIZE  A  COMATOSE  ADMINISTER  A 
SYMPATHETIC  NERVOUS  SYSTEM  CHEMICAL:  AD- 
DREAM-ALEEN 

2.  TO  MENTALIZE  AN  EMOTER  ADMINISTER  A  MENTAL 
STIMULANT:  METHOD-DREAM 

3.  TO  SENSUALIZE  A  MENTAL-CASE  ADMINISTER  A 
SENSE-YOU-ALIVER:  MERRY  WON  HER 

4.  TO  EMBODY  A  SENSUALIZER  ADMINISTER  A  PARA- 
SYMPATHETIC NERVOUS  SYSTEM  CHEMICAL  THAT 
AROUSES  SLEEPING  KUNDALINI  SERPENT  COILED 
WITHIN  EACH  PLEXY  CAKRA 

5.  TO  INCELLATE  ANY  BODY  ADMINISTER  A  STRONG 
ORGANIC  PSYCHECELLIC  ME-CELLEEN,  CELLOSIGH- 
BEAN. 

6.  TO  ADAMIZE  A  UNI-CELLER  ADMINISTER  LIFE- 
SURGIC  DIE-AMIDE. 

THE  MIND  IS  THE  BRAKE  THAT  SLOWS  THE  BODY. 

WE  DID  IMAGINE  WHAT  COULD  HAPPEN  IF  A  COM- 
PLETELY UNDISCIPLINED  PERSON  TOOK  THE  DRUG.  WE 
SAT  BY  CANDLE  LIGHT  IN  CONCORD  PRISON  WATCHING 
THE  MOST  DANGEROUS  UNCONTROLLED  CRIMINALS 
LOOSE  THEIR  MINDS.  WE  PONDERED  THIS  QUESTION  NAY 
AND  MIGHT:  WHO  DESERVES  TO  TAKE  THIS  DRUG?  WE 
OFFERED  IT  TO  THE  FULL  PROFESSORS  AND  THEIR 
GRANDCHILDREN  TOOK  IT.  WE  OFFERED  IT  TO  SENATORS 


68 


AND  CONGRESSMEN  AND  THEIR  CHILDREN  VOTED  YES. 
WE  WERE  TAUGHT  BY  LIFE  THAT  HE  TAKES  IT  WHO  TAKES 
IT.  THIS  IS  THE  ONE  CLEAR  FACT  THAT  STANDS  OUT  OF 
OUR  EVOLUTIONARY  LEAP  MEET. 

AND  THEIR  MINDS  DID  INDEED  OPEN  LIKE  ZOOZ  WITH 
ALL  THE  CAGES  OPEN— AND  THIS  BECAME  THE  META- 
PHOR OF  OUR  JOURNEY.  OPEN  THE  CAGE  DOORS!  LET  THE 
WILD  ANIMALS  BE  FREE!  WHEN  THE  DOMESTICATED  DIS- 
COVER THEIR  WILD  NATURE  THE  RESULT  IS  CHAOS  ONLY 
TO  THE  ZOO-KEEPER  JAILER  WITH  HIS  BRASS  RING  OF 
KEYS.  WHEN  THE  CAGE  DOORS  OPEN  NATURE  RULES. 

In  three  weeks  in  prison  all  maya  needs  have  been  met  by 
voluntary  offerings  of  friends.  Today  had  just  little  rolling  to- 
bacco In  jacket.  Surly  Chicano  came  up  on  the  yard  and  asked 
tobacco.  In  a  hurry  to  play  handball  pretend  not  to  hear. 
When  I  laid  jacket  down  knew  he  would  steal  tobacco.  After 
handball  hungry  for  smoke  but  package  gone. 

How  perfectly  karma  works!  I  have  been  following  the  prac- 
tice of  giving  away  half  of  what  I  am  given.  But  as  you  stay 
here  longer  you  get  more  self-protective  and  squirrly.  If  I  had 
let  him  roll  a  cigarette  he  wouldn't  have  stolen  the  package. 
Which  he  had  every  right  to  do. 

We  must  not  consider  the  eternal  punishment  of  hell  as  a  series  of  separate 

or  distinct  terms  of  punishment,  as  if were  forever  again  and  again 

pronouncing  a  new  sentence  and  inflicting  new  penalties,  and  as  if  

could  ever  satisfy  his  desire  for  vengeance. 


69 


April  15     70     Chino 


Hell  Is,  especially  In  the  eyes  of  ,  one  and  indivisible  in  its  en- 
tirety; It  is  but  one  sentence  and  one  penalty.  We  may  represent  to  our- 
selves a  punishment  of  indescribable  Intensity  as  in  a  certain  sense  the 
equivalent  of  an  eternal  punishment;  this  may  help  us  to  see  better  how 
permits  the  sinner  to  fall  into  hell. 

Jittery,  skittery,  jangly  crank  freak  speed  up  to  me  with 
dirty-post-cards-ieer-for-sale. 

"Hey  man,  I  got  something  for  you  to  read." 

THE  OBJECTIVE  FORM  TO  WHICH  WE  GIVE  OUR  ATTEN- 
TION IS  CREATED  BY  THE  VERY  ATTENTION  WE  GIVE  TO 
IT.  THE  OBJECTIVE  IS  BUT  THE  REFLECTION  OF  THE  SUB- 
JECTIVE STATE  OF  THOUGHT. 

THE  ENGINE  OF  THE  SUBJECTIVE  MIND  MUST  BE 
GUIDED.  IT  IS  NEITHER  PERSON,  PLACE,  OR  THING,  OF  IT- 
SELF. IT  IS  SUBJECTIVE  TO  THE  DESIRE  OF  MAN.  CONSE- 
QUENTLY IT  HAS  FOR  HIM  ONLY  THE  POWER  HE  DECREES 
IT  HAS. 

MAN'S  MIND  IS  THE  MIND  OF  GOD  FUNCTIONING  AT  THE 
LEVEL  OF  MAN'S  UNDERSTANDING  OF  HIS  PLACE  IN  THE 
UNIVERSE.  MAN  CONTACTS  THE  MIND  OF  GOD  AT  THE 
VERY  CENTER  OF  HIS  BEING. 

"I  wrote  the  last  one  last  night  in  my  cell  after  the  lights 
were  out.  In  the  dark.  That's  why  the  handwriting  aint  so  good." 

Maya  observe  this  amazing  sage  astonishment.  Shaven  head. 
Young  hoodlum  face.  FANADDICT  RUDEST  MONK. 

"Good  God,  man.  This  is  a  powerful  statement  of  the  human 
psychological  situation.  You  have  summarized  the  essence  of 
Hindu  thought  in  three  paragraphs." 

Accelerator  talk  wheels  more,  but  interrupted. 

"Would  you  allow  me  to  copy  this  right  now.  My  mind  de- 
crees that  this  is  very  powerful." 

Sat  down  manuscript  it.  COUNT  TIME.  LOCK  UP. 

Next  day  skidded  up  eagerly  hundred  files  an  hour.  Papers. 
Notes.  Nouns.  Injectives.  Diagrams  abstract  concepts.  God. 
Soul.  Un-conscious.  Maya  head  spinned.  There's  a  method- 
dreen  in  him  madness. 

"Hey  Brother.  Are  you  cranking  down?" 


70 


El  dropped  his  head  contrition.  "Yeah.  I'll  be  wound  up  for 
another  couple  of  months  I  guess." 

"Yeah.  You  could  suffocate  me  with  speedy  crystal  talk 
tapes.  If  I  let  you." 

El  grin. 

"Make  a  deal  with  you.  One  page  a  day  from  now  on.  O.K." 

He  nodded.  Agree  non-do-a-list. 

Socrates  looked  at  him  and  said:  "I  return  your  good  wishes,  and  will  do 
as  you  bid."  Then  turning  to  us,  he  said,  "How  charming  the  man  is: 
since  I  have  been  in  prison  he  has  always  been  coming  to  see  me  and 
now  see  how  generously  he  sorrows  for  me." 

In  itself  it  is  a  rejection  of  Catholic  doctrine  to  suppose  that  might 

at  times,  by  way  of  exception,  liberate  a  soul  from  hell.  Thus  some  were 
misled  by  untrustworthy  stories  into  the  belief  that  the  prayers  of  Gregory 
the  Great  rescued  the  Emperor  Trajan  from  hell.  But  now  theologians  are 
unanimous  in  teaching  that  such  exceptions  never  take  place  and  never 
have  taken  place,  a  teaching  which  should  be  accepted. 

Neumann:  "My  father  soon  discovered  that,  using  electrical  apparatus,  and 
small  quantities  of  certain  atropine  derivatives,  it  was  possible  to  com- 
pletely obliterate  some  simple  habit  patterns  .  .  .  And  when  I  first  learned 
of  my  father's  idea  of  a  drug  to  destroy  habit  patterns,  I  was  so  excited 
that  I  had  to  go  out  for  a  ten  mile  walk  before  I  could  control  myself.  You 
see  why?  I  was  obsessed  by  this  notion  of  man's  limitations.  Why  does 
consciousness  sometimes  blaze  into  a  bonfire  that  gives  us  a  glimpse  of 
the  superman?  .  .  . 

"My  father  wanted  a  drug  to  cure  smoking.  I  wanted  a  drug  to  create  the 
superman  ...  or  rather,  to  make  it  easier  for  the  superman  to  create  himself. 

"...  A  man  who  had  come  to  think  of  himself  as  a  weakling  and  a 
coward  would  suddenly  realize  that  he  had  the  power  of  choice — to  be  a 
coward  or  a  hero." 

Hippies  with  hair  shaved  off  don't  look  so  holy.  A  tough  little 
kid  came  today  handed  story.  Its  a  precisely  accurate  summary 
of  what  happened  to  the  LSD  religion.  They  destroyed  our  ex- 
ternal symbols  in  the  same  way  they  wiped  out  Christ,  but 
faster.  Electronics  speed  things  up. 

A  Man  called  Lee  Stevens  Domes 
by  R.  A.  Yasso 
He  drifted  in  with  the  wind,  from  all  angeles,  a  man  with 
truth  in  his  big  eyes,  he  seemed  to  be  glowing  with  energy, 
lights  of  all  different  shapes  and  colers  like  a  rainbow,  some 
how  I  knew  him  from  befor,  and  I  suddenly  realized  we  were 
but  one,  he  took  me  by  the  hand  and  I  was  like  a  baby  serching 
for  the  truth  in  life,  and  as  I  sat  with  him  up  here,  looking  down, 
at  the  earth  it  was  not  yet  borned,  its  nakedness  was  being 


71 


destory  by  war,  and  uncontrolable  madness,  for  power,  and 
while  thinking  of  a  thousand  different  things,  this  worryed  us 
the  most,  for  we  might  also  be  destory,  but  it  was  not  time  yet, 
he  told  me,  and  the  years  went  on  the  same  but  it  was  not 
time  yet,  he  told  me.  Then  one  beautiful  day,  while  we  were  up 
there  looking  down  again  we  came  upon  the  system,  it  was 
eveil  and  they  tryed  to  destory  us,  by  way  of  brain  washing  to 
conform  to  its  ways  of  madness  we  were  put  In  steel  cages 
with  wire  all  around  it,  and  we  were  keeped  there  for  years. 
But  it  was  not  time  yet  he  told  me.  Then  one  day  the  rains 
came,  and  the  system  was  but  a  few  but  it  was  not  time  yet  he 
told  me.  And  as  life  went  on  the  system  got  biger,  and  the 
wars  got  biger,  now  there  were  steel  cages  all  over,  like  an 
animal  trap  we  were  all  beinn  caught,  but  the  light  of  wisdom 
was  there  never  to  leave  us,  now  time  has  come  for  all  brothers 
and  sisters  to  unite  as  one  and  slowly  pass  the  light  on  to 
others,  so  they  will  see  the  truth  as  we  have  some  were  ready 
and  some  were  not,  some  could  not  bear  to  look  at  our  pure 
light  and  turned  Into  vegetibles,  while  others  told  wild  story's 
of  the  energy,  fliped  out  Into  the  way  of  the  system  they  were 
all  eaten  up,  never  to  return  to  the  rainbow  again.  Now  only 
but  a  few  we  keep  looking  for  you  to  join  us  up  here  to  give 
thanks  to  the  soil  that  grew,  but  more  to  the  light  that  fed 
but  most  of  all  to  Alene  and  Tim  who  gave  us  two  sepret  sides 
of  our  head,  we  should  go  without  money,  clothing  or  bread 
rather  for  an  instance  lose  either  side  of  our  head.  And  in  the 
end  the  system  was  no  more,  every  thing  was  peaceful  and 
love  was  with  all  of  us.  No  more  wars,  for  we  knew  the  power 
of  the  energy  and  we  could  see  through  one  an  other's  minds, 
but  to  some  still  it  got  out  of  controle,  now  we  were  all  looking 
to  exspanding  our  minds  so  that  we  may  be  havery  than  our 
brother's,  it  just  started  out  with  everyone  doing  their  own 
thing,  now  we  had  to  climb  higher  and  higher  to  escape.  They 
fliped  out,  and  as  I  sat  with  him  up  here  looking  down,  we  both 
saw  that  it  would  never  end  and  that  man  will  never  be  satafide 
with  just  anought,  now  there  were  people  with  powers  like  ours 
trying  to  throw  us  in  steel  cages,  it  was  as  through  we  knew 
all  the  time  that  this  sytem  would  start  some  day  again.  And 
now  I  was  saying  goodbye  to  Mr.  Lee  Steven  Domes.  Thanken 
him  for  the  trip  we  went  on  hopeing  that  tomorrow  we  would 
meet  again  up  here,  and  while  following  the  sun  he  faded, 
and  his  last  words  were  feed  your  head,  feed  your  head. 


72 


April  17     70     Chino 


Moved  to  Honor  dorm.  Maya  bed  on  tier  floor  in  line  with 
seventy  other  beds.  Slept  last  night  between  two  beautiful 
Black  brothers.  Crowded  so  close  maya  hand  brushes  the  next 
bed. 

Before  lights  out  four  Blacks  crowd  around  bunk.  Rolling 
cigarettes  for  me.  Such  protective  love  from  the  Blacks. 

Keep  getting  young  friends  in  trouble. 

Radiant  youth  sneaked  into  dorm  to  talk.  Stood  there  shining 
on  me.  Guard  saw  rushed  to  bust  him.  Took  name  and  ejected 
him.  This  is  the  story  of  my  life.  Oh  Robbie  and  Gretchen  and 
Heather,  nu  miss  tus  three. 

RIGHT  COLLAR  CRIME 

There  is  Black  man  of  forty  years  four  time  loser.  Sat  next 
at  dinner  asked  if  ever  heard  of  writer  named  Gurdjieff.  Ex- 
ploded in  amazed  pleasure.  Fifteen  years  prison  managed  to 
get  a  copy  of  All  and  Everything. 

Eye  say  >A  <Sr  E  greatest  book  written  in  20th  century.  He 
bubbled  with  quiet  joy,  sharing  me  pleasure. 

Had  read  Ouspensky.  Prefers  being  in  prison  because  can 
pursue  his  work  better  behind  bars.  "I  get  pulled  Into  reactive 
behavior  on  the  outside.  I  get  to  be  the  center  of  people  and 
then  I  get  into  trouble.  Women  stir  me  up  a  lot.  I'm  free  of  all 
that  in  here."  In-patient.  In-maginary. 

His  vibrations  were  old-time  dignified  Darky  Buddha.  Spoke 
shyly,  almost  inaudibly  words  occult. 

Whenever  went  by  bunk  making  notes  on  piece  of  paper. 
Topics  meditate  when  he  got  to  Folsom.  Let  me  copy  them. 

Lessons  from  Nirvana    Learn  them    Learn  them 
Eliminating  Emotional  Influences    Burn  them     Burn  them 
Listening  to  the  Voice  of  the  Spirit     Schooling 
The  Law  of  Three     The  Law  of  Two     The  Law  of  Three 

Ruling 
Overcoming  My  Emotions    Despair  Despair 
The  riddle  of  the  serpent    Possible  avenues  of  pursuit  of 

sex    Her  voice  Her  hair 


73 


Control  among  Teen-agers    Violence 
The  Peace  Sign  and  Its  Effect    Silence 
Extensive  Work  on  Emotional  Control    Feel 
Knowledge  of  Real  Conversation   From  Emotional  Con- 
versation   Real 
Consciousness  and  Its  Different  Levels     Hoping 
Thinking  Beyond  the  Influence  of  Emotions    Coping 
The  Fallacy  of  Equality    Heart  brake  Heart  brake 
The  ball-chain  Mode  of  Existence  Created  by  Emotional 

Love    Heart  brake     Heart  brake 
Thinking  About  Women  Beyond  Her  Powerful  Sex  Influ- 
ence     I  miss  you 
The  Biblical  verson  of  the  origin  of  man  vs.  the  Darwinian 

Theory    Which  is  better  for  a  metaphor? 
The  Woman  and  Her  Objective  Significance    Wait  for  me 
What  the  American  Heritage  Means    State  for  me 
The  meeting  of  minds  Real  Communication  between  Be- 
ings    Mate  for  me 
The  Ego  and  its  Tenacious  Grip     Power 
Spiritual  Manifestation    Flower 
The  Power  of  the  Spiritual  Force  in  Man     High 
The  Destruction  of  One's  Self-image    Good  Bye. 

Just  to  check  him  out  wandered  to  bunk  and  asked  about 
that  item  "The  Woman  and  Her  Objective  Significance."  Could 
hardly  hear  mumbling  words  about  positive  energy  of  man 
negative  energy  of  woman  when  connected  dynamo  battery. 
Yo  said.  "Right!  That's  why  it's  so  hard  to  be  here.  I'm  electron 
without  proton."  El  say  "well,  my  woman  is  here  all  the  time. 
You  know  these  spiritual  connections  can  be  stronger  than  . .  ." 


74 


April  20     70     Chino 


Newspaper  clipping:  New  York,  (UP!)  Sen  Barry  Goldwater 
(R-Ariz.)  told  college  students  today  that  marijuana  laws  were 
too  strong,  adding,  "I  have  a  problem  rather  close  to  me." 

Goldwater  said  that  he  thought  the  laws  were  "unfair"  and 
should  be  directed  for  narcotic  vendors  rather  than  for  the 
users. 

The  new  cop-out  cliche  in  blame-game.  As  long  as  grass 
smokers  were  Blacks,  Mexicans,  and  hippies — give  them  the 
axe.  But  when  our  own  prep-school,  college  kids  start  smoking, 
slam  the  supplier. 

The  fallacy  here  is  that  the  vendors  of  grass  are  not  evil, 
nigger  Mafia  types.  Ninety  per  cent  of  all  marijuana  is  retailed 
by  nice  young  kid  next  door  who  buys  twenty  dollars  worth 
sells  half  to  friends. 

Daughter  of  wealthy  and  famous  millionaire  went  to  Euro- 
pean country  recently  gave  LSD  to  son  of  leading  politician. 
He  promptly  announced  had  seen  the  light,  that  Father's  poli- 
tics were  wrong,  that  he  was  going  to  become  a  Hindu,  etc., 
etc.  After  the  son  was  clapped  into  psychiatric  custody,  young 
Kathy  was  deported  her  father  notified. 

The  millionaire  father's  reaction  was  typical.  He  hired  private 
detectives  td  find  out  who  gave  his  daughter  the  LSD.  "I'll  see 
that  he  gets  life."  It  turned  out  to  be  the  son  of  a  U.S.  Senator. 

IV.  Impenitence  of  the  Damned:  The  damned  are  confirmed  in  evil;  every 

act  of  their  will  is  evil  and   inspired  by  hatred  of  .   Hatred   is  the 

only  motive  in  their  power;  and  they  have  no  choice  than  that  of  showing 
their  hatred  of by  one  evil  action  in  preference  to  another. 

A  VERY  COUTH  FELLOW. 

Noticed  him  day  arrived  here.  Gross,  hulking,  brutish,  sullen. 
Ugliest  man  in  joint. 

Watched  him  day  by  day.  All  he  did  glower  and  chain  smoke 
lung-collapsing  state-issue  tobacco.  Oh  yes,  one  other  thing. 
Spent  long  periods  front  of  mirror  scowling  combing  shock  of 
colorless  hair. 

Sat  on  bench,  shoulders  slumped,  flicking  cigarettes.  Mental 


75 


defective?  In-becile.  Don't  play  handball  or  baseball  or  volley 
ball  or  lift  weights  or  talk  anyone.  Just  sat  on  bench. 

On  Sunny  Monday  first  day  Taurus  sitting  next  to  my  shirt. 
Decided  contact. 

"Hey,  what's  happening?" 

Hung  head  low,  blank  eyes  to  me.  "As  far  as  I  can  figure  it 
out,  there's  no  difference  between  good  and  bad.  It  don't  mean 
nothing  any  of  it.  Does  it?" 

"What  do  you  mean?"  asked  cautiously. 

"Well  they  are  all  just  imaginary  ideas.  Good  and  bad.  Free- 
dom or  prison.  Even  life  and  death." 

Eye  dizzy  expecting  low-level,  "what's  your  case?"  conver- 
sation escalates  me  up  to  the  top  of  old  Vedic  Mt.  Meru. 

"I  see  what  you  mean.  It  doesn't  really  make  much  difference 
when  you  get  right  down  to  it." 

Shook  heavy  head.  "Man,  that's  heavy.  How  many  people 
here  realize  that?  It  really  don't  make  no  difference.  The  only 
difference  between  being  in  prison  and  out  there  is  women  and 
that's  .  .  ." 

Eye  broke  silence.  "Yeah.  Ninety  percent  of  the  emotion  in 
my  life  was  due  to  my  not  understanding  her.  Loving  her. 
Fighting  her.  Wanting  her.  Escaping  her.  Making  her  jealous. 
Being  jealous.  Courting  her.  Ignoring  her.  Whew!" 

Hand  rolling  cigarette  in  wind.  I  offer  tailor  made. 

"If  you  could  die  right  now,  would  you?" 

"Depends.  Sometimes  yes.  Sometimes  no.  Suicide  such  a 
messy  body  crafty  mind  trip.  Now  if  God  were  to  give  you  a 
simple  way  out.  No  sloppy  slitting  of  wrists.  Say  a  button.  Just 
press  it  and  slip  out  of  it.  Would  you  do  it?"  I  was  holding  out 
my  hand  pointing  to  the  button. 

He  leaned  away  and  smiled  and  shook  head.  Looked  at  me 
and  laughed,  eyes  sparking  rugged,  good-looking  man. 

Eye  said,  "A  French  writer  named  Sartre  once  said  that  there 
is  only  one  issue  in  life.  To  kill  yourself  or  not." 

He  grinned.  "Yeah.  But  wasn't  it  a  French  writer  who  said 
that?" 

"Yeah.  I  said  French.  Name  of  Sartre." 

"That's  right.  That's  the  fellow.  Sartre." 

Eye  was  wondering  to  myself,  was  it  Camus?  Who  is  this 
guy  anyway? 

"Well  If  there's  no  good  or  bad.  What  is  there?" 

Eye  looked  up  at  the  sun.  "There's  energy.  That's  all  there 
is.  It  comes  in  all  sorts  of  pretty  packages.  You  can  groove  be- 
hind it  or  struggle  with  It.  Or  call  it  different  names  or  assign 
different  emotional  meanings  to  it.  But  that  doesn't  affect  it. 


76 


I  like  those  moments  when  you  are  in  the  flow  of  it.  Not  happy 
up  or  sad  down.  But  with  it.  Being  energy.  Serene  bliss.  Those 
are  the  moments." 

He  nodded. 

"Like  right  now.  We  had  It  going  for  a  second  here  in  the 
sunshine." 

He  listen  not  response. 

"What's  your  name." 

"My  name  is  uncouth." 

"What!  Common!" 

"Well  that's  not  my  original  name,  but  that's  what  people 
call  me." 

"Do  you  know  what  uncouth  means?" 

"Yeah.  It  means  gross.  Crude.  You  told  me  that." 

"I  told  you  that!" 

"Sure.  I  came  up  to  you  and  asked  you  what  couth  meant. 
And  you  said  'Uncouth  means  gross  or  crude,'  but  you  didn't 
know  what  couth  meant." 

WRITE  COLLAR  CRIME 
As  eye  type  these  notes  always  aware  that  eye  am  commit- 
ting  illegal   act.   Constant  glancing-up    reflex   of   in-security. 
These  notes  are  contraband.  You  reader.  Watch  out! 

The  retrobate  carries  in  himself  the  primary  cause  of  impenitence;  it  is 
the  guilt  of  sin  which  he  committed  on  earth  and  with  which  he  passed 
Into  eternity. 

In  office  used  by  trustee  Inmates  big  red  numbers  on  wall. 
Days  of  the  month.  Each  number  pinned  separately  to  wall. 
Each  day  remove  number.  Eye  noticed  big  red  arrow  pointed 
to  morrow.  There  is  no  number  for  today.  Ask  the  trustee,  how 
come  there  is  no  number  for  today? 

Laughed  and  said,  "In  con  terminology,  when  you  wake  up 
in  the  morning.  That  day  is  over." 

Fifth  in  line  for  the  San  Francisco  Chronicle  and  second  in 
line  for  the  Los  Angeles  Times.  Enjoy  the  weak  old  Chronicle 
better  than  the  day  old  Times. 

Our  religious  teachings  caught  on  very  fast.  Mohammed  after 
ten  years  had  fifteen  co-worshippers,  including  his  wife  and 
two  slaves.  After  ten  years  Rosemary  and  eye  share  fifteen 
million  or  fifty  million  or  one  hundred  and  fifteen  million 
co-worshippers  and  no  slaves  no  churches.  No  tax  deduct- 
able  procedures.  Wherever  and  when  ever  people  meet  in 
small  groups  to  get  high,  turn  off  social  and  turn  on  timeless, 


77 


converse  silently  God  to  God,  light  candles,  engage  in  that 
special  form  of  telepathy  known  only  to  psychedelic  dopers, 
well  then  and  there  our  religion  Is  in  session.  Rosemary  and 
I  and  our  friends  are  there.  And  whenever  Rosemary  and  I 
sit  by  the  fire  and  get  high  and  become  one  with  all  .  .  .  you 
are  there  with  us,  brothers  and  sisters.  That  is  our  religion. 

It  will  take  society  ten  years  to  start  catching  up  with  our 
political  prophecies  and  prescriptions.  The  Politics  of  Ecstasy. 

It  would  not  be  Intrinsically  impossible  for to  move  the  damned  to 

repentance;  yet  such  a  course  would  be  out  of  keeping  with  the  state  of 

final  reprobation.  The  opinion  that  the  refusal  of  all  grace  and  of 

every  Incitement  to  good  is  the  proximate  source  of  impenitence,  is  upheld 
by  many  theologians,  and  in  particular  by  Molina. 

It  will  take  psychology  twenty-five  years  to  catch  up  with 
problems  studied  at  Millbrook.  It  got  lonely  and  boring  weight- 
ing around. 

We  decided  that  all  was  to  live  our  love  and  create  new  life. 

The  prison  guards  re-tired  army  enlisted  men  Motel  Man- 
agers. Herd  us  dining  room.  Lock  unlock  doors.  Walk  tiers  at 
night,  fat-igued,  pot-bellied  men  with  flashlights  slipping  mail 
under  cell  doors.  Their  work  centers  around  keys. 

YOUR  LETTER  IS  RETURNED  FOR  THE  REASON(s) 
CHECKED  BELOW:  DRAWING  PICTURES  OR  OTHERWISE 
ORNAMENTING  THE  STATIONERY  OR  ENVELOPE 


78 


April  21     70     Chino 


Let  the  punishment  fit  the  time. 

Paviovian  conditioning  and  learning  theory  teaches  that  the 
pain  must  be  directly  relevant  and  immediate. 

After  year  time  prison  inmate  forgotten  his  crime,  his  arrest, 
his  trial,  his  judge,  his  defender. 

Just  doing  time.  Storing  up  bitter  supply  of  sullen  anger. 

SMITE  COLLAR  CRIME 

Six  months  wondering  about  Charles  Man  Son. 

He  was,  of  course,  the  crushing  blow  to  the  exoteric  hippie 
movement. 

After  Man  Son,  anyone  who  looked  like  Christ  was  suspect 
of  being  a  ritual  murderer. 

Even  my  Mother  turned  to  me  and  said,  "You're  not  like 
that  Manson  are  you?" 

Why  Man  Son  Why?  I  have  refrained  from  comment  on  Man 
Son  because  I  didn't  understand.  He  had  clearly  transcended 
something  social.  It  seemed  impossible  that  it  could  be  an 
LSD  transcendance.  But  one  must  be  cautious.  LSD  teaches 
us  that  nothing  makes  any  difference.  But  why  sense-less  kill- 
ing of  innocents? 

I  may  be  experienced  just  a  whiff  of  his  life  trip. 

Charles  Manson  spent  half  of  his  thirty-five  years  in  prison. 

Not  a  hippy  cult  leader!  He  is  a  well-rounded  product  of 
the  American  penal  system.  Ph.D.  graduate  of  our  correctional 
process. 

System  so  brutal,  so  impersonally  lethal  of  tender  human 
feeling,  so  precisely  designed  to  increase  helplessness  inevi- 
table Paviovian  product  is  Hatred. 

It  is  completely  impossible  to  do  a  long  prison  term  and 
not  have  moments  of  fierce,  blind,  murderous,  cold  blood  rage. 
At  whom?  This  choice  you  and  your  chance  robot  reactivity 
will  decide.  At  anyone  in  a  system  that  passively  allows  such 
things  to  happen. 

It  maddens  thoughtful  convict  to  know  that  everyone  admits 
the  system  Is  wrong.  That  the  system  creates  crime.  That  the 
system  encourages  homosexual  rape.  Cynicism.  Murder. 


79 


"Just  talking  to  a  guy  come  in  from  Soledad.  There  have 
been  seventeen  murders  there  in  the  last  three  months." 

When  they  chained  us  up  to  Vacaville  the  bus  stopped  to 
unload  some  YA's  (Youth  Authority  cases)  at  Tracy.  At  Chino 
several  of  them  had  hung  around  me.  For  protection.  They 
were  scared.  They  knew  what  awaited  them  at  Tracy.  They 
shaved  long  hair  to  look  ugly  as  possible.  Worked  out  feverishly 
with  the  weights  to  build  up  tough-looking  muscles.  Open 
smiles  turned  to  frowns. 

As  they  were  chained  out  of  the  bus  into  the  receiving  tank 
the  Tracy  guards  inspected  them  carefully.  Stock-yard  man- 
agers look  over  incoming  cattle.  Guards  pot-bellied,  slack 
jowls.  Drool  at  the  mouth.  One  said, 

"Fine  crop  of  juicy,  soft-skinned  boys,  eh  Marvin." 

Thits  all  laugh  salaciously. 

There  is  no  one  who  will  publicly  justify  this  system.  And 
yet  it  goes  on,  and  on  and  on  and  on. 

And  the  sentences  get  longer  and  longer. 

And  every  step  that  is  taken  by  liberal  legislators  to  humanize 
the  system  just  makes  the  bureaucratic  burden  heavier.  For 
example  it  costs  between  $300  and  $600  to  accomplish  psycho- 
logical diagnosis  which  has  no  effect  on  rehabilitation  or  short- 
ening sentence,  but  which,  on  paper,  gives  the  illusion  of  pro- 
gressive custody. 

Each  day  the  prisoner  is  confronted  with  dozen  crushing 
examples  of  callousness.  Inevitably  there  comes  a  moment  of 
nihilistic  murderous  rage.  The  Insidious  smell  of  murder.  You 
can  no  more  escape  it  than  you  can  escape  the  scent  of 
petroleum  in  a  gas  refinery.  This  prison  is  an  assembly-line 
factory  geared  up  to  produce  murderous  rage. 

Wash  it  off  in  shower. 

Pervasive  sweat  stink  mattress.  How  many  tortured  men 
tossed  turned  dreamed  bloody  nightmare  dream  on  me  musty 
brown  lumpy  bedding? 

Charles  Manson.  Seventeen  years  behind  the  bars.  Two 
hundred  and  four  months.  Six  thousand,  two  hundred  and  nine 
nights  lying  on  bed  raging. 

Charles  Manson?  Image  and  likeness  of  God? 

Why  kill?  Prison  system  took  child,  reared  him,  trained  him, 
guided  him  boy  to  man.  Now  glories  in  him  super-wicked- 
hippie  star  of  nightly  television. 

YOUR  LETTER  IS  RETURNED  FOR  THE  REASON(s) 
CHECKED  BELOW:  NO  ONE  ON  THE  OUTSIDE  REMEMBERS 
YOU  ANYMORE 


80 


".  .  .  The  first  effects  of  the  drug  were  beyond  anything  I  had  imagined. 
My  perceptions  became  as  clear  and  fresh  as  those  of  a  child  ...  My 
senses  became  Incredibly  keen,  and  at  the  same  time,  my  memory  began 
to  function  with  a  power  and  exactitude  that  I  had  never  known  before  .  .  . 

".  .  .  Then  the  reaction  began  ...  My  senses  were  abnormally  sharp, 
but  I  was  no  longer  able  to  ignore  things  that  irritated  me  ...  i  had  for- 
gotten— or  never  realized — how  much  of  our  living  is  a  habit — including 
breathing  .  .  .  Every  time  I  did  something,  1  was  aware  of  myself  doing  it. 
I  was  aware  that  I  could  choose  to  do  it  or  not. 

"...  I  had  a  strange  sensation  that  everything  in  the  world  was  real 
except  myself.  I  felt  like  a  vacuum.  And  at  the  same  time,  it  seemed  as 
though  I  was  in  the  middle  of  an  immense  desert — a  desert  of  freedom. 
For  the  first  time  I  realized  that  man  needs  his  habits  to  save  him  from 
too  much  freedom — that  freedom  is  potentially  man's  most  dangerous 
enemy  ...  I  realized  what  Heidegger  meant  when  he  said  that  man  can 
only  know  true  freedom  in  the  face  of  death.  Because  death  is  the  ultimate 
threat,  the  ultimate  limitation.  It  makes  man  aware  of  his  purpose,  his 
desire  to  live.  I  realized  suddenly:  it  is  not  freedom  that  man  needs.  He 
already  has  more  than  he  can  use.  It  is  a  vision  of  purpose." 

Thus  St.  Thomas  teaches  that  the  chief  cause  of  impenitence  is  

justice  which  refuses  the  damned  every  grace. 

According  to  Durrell,  Socrates  last  words:  "Please  the  Gods, 
let  the  laughter  keep  breaking  through." 

Here  the  Blacks  laugh.  The  Chicanes  smile  and  scowl.  The 
whites  are  brave  in  defeat. 

Black  voices  vibrate  through  room.  Singing.  Chuckling. 

The  damned  are  ashamed  of  their  folly  which  led  them  to  seek  happiness 
in  sin,  but  not  of  the  malice  of  sin  itself. 

There  is  much  meditation  about  woman.  Everyone  here 
wrestling  her.  The  real  deprivation  loss  of  contact  with  women. 

Jackie  Kennedy  as  MIss-ic  Goddess.  Image  scrambling  out 
of  car  in  Dallas.  Haunting.  Not  motherly.  Power  marriage. 

Tantric  solution.  Be-come  one  person,  one  intercoiled  body, 
one  golden  harp  of  feeling,  walking  forest  holding  hands  we 
see  twin  trees.  Telepathy  silver  key  to  woman's  liberation. 

At  county  jail,  brief  twenty  minute  visit  through  glass.  Rose- 
mary intense.  Leans  forward  loye  melt  glass.  "I'll  free  you,  my 
love."  Magnificent,  all-encompassing  promise. 

Long  term  prison  sentences  make  no  psychological  sense. 
What  does  ten  years  mean  as  deterrent? 

As  the  police  close  in  on  Neumann,  the  philosopher  Zweig  and  his  friends 
discuss  smuggling  him  out  of  the  country. 


81 


"He  Is  anxious  to  keep  his  experiments  with  neurocaine  a  secret.  If  it 
leaked  out  he  would  have  every  newspaper  reporter  and  every  crank  in 
the  world  interrupting  his  work.  Besides,  imagine  the  forces  that  would 
oppose  him.  All  the  tobacco  companies,  to  begin  with.  All  the  liquor  com- 
panies. Most  of  the  medical  profession,  including  the  psychiatrists.  Don't 
you  see  that  secrecy  is  of  the  utmost  importance?  All  that  he  needs  now 
is  privacy  and  money." 

But  we  must  do  as  he  says,  Crito;  let  the  cup  be  brought,  if  the  poison  is 
prepared;  if  not  let  the  attendant  prepare  some. 

V.  Poena  Damni:  The  poena  damni,  or  pain  of  loss  consists  in  a  complete 

separation  of  all  the  powers  of  the  soul  from  that  it  cannot  find 

in even  the  least  peace  and  rest. 


82 


April  22     70     Chino 


Waiting  all  day  for  Calif  Supreme  Court  grant  bail. 

Main  function  of  human  life?  Wise  Ingestion  of  drugs. 

Life  chemical  transformation  process.  Men  chemical  trans- 
formation organism  designed  by  God  to  produce  harmonious 
love. 

Basic  activity  of  life?  Righteous  selection  of  chemicals  in- 
gest. Molecules  we  put  in  bodies  determine  quality  and  quan- 
tity of  living.  Food.  Drink.  Air.  Medicines.  Neurological  vitamins. 
Bfotics  (including  spermatozoa.) 

Social  psychological  harmony  depends  entirely  on  psycho- 
tropic drugs  Intake.  There  is  a  drug  to  produce  any  psycho- 
logical, social,  or  spiritual  state. 

Function  of  education:  teach  people  how  to  use  drugs;  i.e. 
how  to  manage  bodies  and  nervous  systems. 

Only  hope  is  dope. 

The  pain  of  loss  is  not  the  mere  absence  of  superior  bliss,  but  it  is  also 
a  most  intense  positive  pain. 

Young  Black  came  see  Don  today.  Just  returned  from  hard 
pen,  en  route  freedom.  Behind  Don's  encouragement  prepared 
simple  writ  pointing  out  obvious  error  in  case.  Appeals  court 
accepted.  Court  appointed  lawyer  got  case  reversed. 

Glow  of  love  joy  in  room  incandescent. 

Then  came  a  postcard  announcing  that  writ  which  Joe  and 
Don  spent  week  preparing  receive  immediate  audience  by 
Supreme  Court.  Lucky  prisoner  hardly  talk,  voice  trembling 
Triumph  in  club  house. 

"It's  these  victories  that  give  us  hope  that  there  is  some 
meaning  and  compassion  in  the  system,"  said  Don. 

"Yet,"  said  Crito,  "the  sun  is  still  upon  the  hilltops,  and  many  a  one  has 
taken  the  draught  late;  and  after  the  announcement  has  been  made  to  him 
he  has  eaten  and  drunk,  and  indulged  in  sensual  delights;  do  not  hasten 
then,  there  is  still  time." 

Their  consciousness  that  ,  on  whom  they  entirely  depend,   is  their 

enemy  forever,  is  overwhelming.  Their  consciousness  of  having  by  their  own 


83 


deliberate  folly  forfeited  the  highest  blessings  for  transitory  and  delusive 
pleasures  humiliates  and  depresses  them  beyond  measure, 

"The  main  obstacle  to  telepathy  is  our  habit  of  communicating  by  speech," 

YES,  BROTHER  COLIN  WILSON.  THE  MAIN  OBSTACLE 
TO  TELEPATHY  IS  OUR  HABIT  OF  THINKING  CONTINUALLY. 
WHEN  YOU  TURN  OFF  YOUR  MIND  YOU  ARE  RECEP- 
TIVE TO  NON-SYMBOLIC  MESSAGES.  IT  IS  ALMOST  IMPOS- 
SIBLE TO  TELE-COMMUNICATE  SYMBOLS.  IN  THE  ENGLISH 
LANGUAGE?  REALLY. 

(Zweig  makes  a  try  at  it.]  ".  .  .  human  beings  make  some  subtle  mistake 
when  they  look  at  the  world.  The  way  we  see  the  world  is  a  lie.  That  is  a 
complete  misconception.  I  suppose  this  is  what  I  came  to  mean  by  original 
sin." 

ORIGINAL  SIN  IS  THE  IMPRINT. 

"Now  my  task  as  a  philosopher  has  always  been  to  find  the  source  of  this 
error.  I  was  sure  that  it  would  only  require  some  tiny  adjustment — like 
turning  the  knob  on  the  side  of  a  microscope — and  everything  would 
suddenly  rush  into  focus  .  .  .  Well  I  have  devoted  my  life  to  trying  to 
discover  the  principle  of  this  focus.  I  have  always  believed  that  it  is  the 
work  of  the  philosopher  to  undo  original  sin." 

GOOD  STUFF,  BROTHER  WILSON.  THE  METAPHOR  OF 
MICROSCOPE  IS  PRECISELY  EXACT.  THERE  IS  A  FOCUS 
WHICH  CAN  ADJUST  THE  LEVEL  OF  AWARENESS.  ONE 
NOTCH  ON  THIS  ONTOLOGICAL  MICROSCOPE  FOCUSES  ON 
THE  REALITY  OF  THE  IMPRINT  AND  ITS  ASSOCIATED  CON- 
DITIONED ASSOCIATIONS.  BUT  THERE  ARE  MANY  OTHER 
FOCI.  YOU  TURN  THE  KNOB  BY  TURNING  YOUR  HEAD. 

The  desire  for  happiness  inherent  in  their  very  nature,  wholly  unsatisfied 

and  no  longer  able  to  find  any  compensation  for  the   loss  of  in 

delusive  pleasure,  renders  them  utterly  miserable. 

Don  typing  copy  ACLU  brief  for  my  appeal. 

Laughs  in  joy  at  legal  beauty. 

"When  I  get  out  I  swear  I'm  going  to  donate  a  portion  of 
my  salary  to  the  ACLU.  They  need  money  don't  they?" 

"Always." 

Take  him  off  on  long  rap.  Invisible  brotherhood  of  Freedom 
people.  All  over  world.  High  places  low.  Always  recognize  each 
other.  Come  to  each  other's  rescue. 

How  Brotherhood  extends  in  time.  Jefferson.  Voltaire.  Soc- 
rates. 

Later  on  work  in  next  office  calls  me.  Grinning.  "You  make 
me  so  buoyant.  You  cheer  me  up  telling  me  about  the  brother- 
hood." 


84 


Laugh,  delight  perfect  Zen  circle  we  create. 

"Far  out,  Don.  I  come  here  to  this  gloomy  place  and  find 
that  you  and  Joe  have  created  a  full-functioning,  authentic 
cell  of  Freedom  Brotherhood.  You  rescue  me.  Tune  me  into 
it.  I  put  it  into  words.  Spell  out  verbally  what  you  are  doing 
and  you  are  pleased  and  surprised.  We  are  here  to  remind 
ourselves  who  we  are  and  why  we  are  here." 

Moreover  they  are  well  aware  that  is  Infinitely  happy,  and  hence 

thfeir  hatred  and  Impotent  desire  to  injure  fills  them  with  extreme 

bitterness. 

Handballing  in  sun.  Thinking  beloved  wife.  Yoni.  Seed. 
Flower.  Conscious  creation  of  New  Life.  Miracle  of  conscious 
procreation.  Divine  love  made  flesh  and  come,  Divine  Child, 
to  dwell  amongst  us. 

Next  few  days  bring  decision.  Will  I  dwell  in  loving  life  with 
her  or  spend  the  rest  of  strife  In  metal  cage?  Hands  tremble. 
Restless. 

On  the  line  for  lunch.  A  sad  looking  young  Black  man  shakes 
his  head. 

"Too  much  punishment  for  too  little  crime." 


85 


April  23     70     Chino 


Moved  into  single  cell. 

Great  serenity.  Quiet. 

Sleep  soundly.  But  awake  drenched  with  sweat.  I'm  still  on 
death  row. 

Rosy  dawn.  Watch  red  sun  over  the  eastern  mountains. 

Has  there  ever  been  a  religion  which  commanded  its  wor- 
shippers to  watch  the  sun  rise  in  the  morning  and  set  In 
evening? 

Powerful,  demanding  rewarding  ritual. 

And  the  same  is  true  with  regard  to  their  hatred  of  all  the  friends  of 

who  enjoy  the  bliss  of  heaven.  The  pain  of  loss  is  the  very  core  of  eternal 
punishment. 

The  moment  when  you  realize  that  you  are  out  there  (here) 
as  far  as  anyone  has  ever  been.  Beyond  maps,  beyond  radio 
contact,  beyond  the  manual  of  Instructions,  Holy  Mary,  Mother 
of  God,  pray  for  us. 

Socrates  said:  "Yes,  Crito,  and  they  of  whom  you  speak  are  right  in  doing 
thus,  for  they  think  that  they  will  gain  by  the  delay;  but  I  am  right  in  not 
doing  thus;  for  I  do  not  think  that  I  should  gain  anything  by  drinking  the 
poison  a  little  later;  I  should  be  sparing  and  saving  a  life  which  is  already 
gone;  I  could  only  laugh  at  myself  for  this.  Please  then  to  do  as  I  say, 
and  not  to  refuse  me." 

[Neumann  discussing  his  friend  GeorgI:] 

".  .  .  he  suspected  that  every  human  being  who  has  ever  lived  has  wasted 
his  life  completely  ...  he  meant  that  if  all  human  life  has  contained  a 
certain  basic  error,  then  the  man  who  realized  this  would  be  completely 
alone.  He  could  speak  to  no  one.  Other  people  could  only  confuse  his 
certainty.  Well,  when  I  became  convinced  that  he  was  right,  I  also  knew 
that  I  would  have  to  work  alone." 

ANOTHER  PROBLEM,  DEAR  BROTHER  WILSON,  WHICH 
WE  WORKED  ON  FOR  SOME  TIME.  IT  IS  TRUE  THAT  IN  THE 
PAST  ONLY  A  FEW  MEN  IN  ANY  CENTURY  WOULD  FIGURE 
OUT  THE  PROBLEM. 

THE  "ERROR"  BY  THE  WAY  IS  IMPRINTING.  AT  THE 
MOMENT  OF  IMPRINTING  THE  MAMMAL  COMMITS  HIM- 
SELF TO  A  BASIC  PLUS  AND  A  BASIC  MINUS.  APPROACH- 


86 


GOOD.  AVOID-BAD.  CONDITIONING  THEN  BUILDS  UP  THE 
CLUSTERS  OF  ASSOCIATIONS  THAT  COMPRISE  MIND.  BUT 
IT  IS  TRUE  THAT  MIND  BEING  BASED  ON  THE  ORIGINAL 
IMPRINT  IS  BASICALLY  "WRONG,"  WELL  WHY  USE  SUCH 
MORAL  TERMS.  THE  ORIGINAL  IMPRINT,  OR  FIRST  AND 
BASIC  ONTOLOGICAL  STEP  IS  "WEIRD."  ACCIDENTAL,  UN- 
CONSCIOUS. YOUNG  ANIMALS  HAVE  IMPRINTED  PLASTIC 
BASKETBALLS,  REMEMBER.  THE  BASIC  REALITY  ISSUE 
THEN  REVOLVES  AROUND  WHAT  IS  GOOD  AND  BAD  IN 
RESPECT  TO  BASKETBALLS. 

THE  INSIGHT  WHICH  YOU  REFER  TO  IS  ALWAYS  DUE 
TO  THE  TRANSCENDENCE  OF  IMPRINTING.  IN  THE  PAST 
THIS  WAS  USUALLY  ACCIDENTAL,  OFTEN  RELATED  TO 
PSYCHOSIS.  AND  THE  FEW  MEN  WHO  MADE  THE  NEURO- 
LOGICAL BREAKTHROUGH  SEPARATED  IN  SPACE-TIME 
SO  THAT  THEY  DID,  IN  FACT,  FEEL  ALONE. 

OUR  SITUATION,  THAT  IS  THE  SITUATION  WHICH  YOU 
DESCRIBE  IN  YOUR  NOVEL  AND  WHICH  WE  HAVE  BEEN 
ACTUALLY  LIVING  OUT,  IS  DIFFERENT.  THE  NEW  DRUGS 
SUSPEND  IMPRINTING.  ONCE  NEUMANN  TURNS  ON  SOME- 
ONE ELSE  HE  IS  NO  LONGER  ALONE.  WHEN  YOU  TURN 
ON  WITH  SOMEONE  ELSE  YOU  PROVIDE  FOR  THE  POSSI- 
BILITY OF  A  MUTUAL  IMPRINT.  WE  IMPRINT  EACH  OTHER. 
THUS  THE  NEW  ONTOLOGICAL  OR  NEUROLOGICAL  MAR- 
RIAGE. THE  ONTOLOGICAL  BROTHERHOOD.  THE  NEURO- 
LOGICAL FAMILY.  NOW  CONSIDER  OUR  DILEMMA.  HOW 
MANY  PEOPLE  SHOULD  WE  TURN  ON? 

[Zweig  deplores  the  fact  that  he  has  wasted  his  life  thinking  about  the 
problem.]  "Tonight,  when  Gustav  [Neumann]  gave  me  the  taste  of  neuro- 
mysin,  I  knew  I  had  made  a  mistake.  There  is  another  way.  Gustav  has 
spent  his  life  pursuing  it.  Instead  of  using  his  intellect  alone,  Gustav  has 
returned  to  the  body.  He  has  recognized  In  fact  what  I  have  only  recog- 
nized in  theory— that  part  of  the  problem  is  purely  physical." 

PUT  IT  THIS  WAY,  DEAR  FRIEND.  THE  PROBLEM  IS  BIO- 
CHEMICAL AND  THE  SOLUTION  MUST,  THEREFORE  BE 
BIO-CHEMICAL. 

THE  INTELLECTUAL  PROBLEM  IS  VERY  SIMPLE.  JUST 
UNDERSTAND  THE  LAST  SENTENCE  AND  ACT  ON  IT 

IT  HAS  AMAZED  ME  THAT  PSYCHOLOGISTS  AND  PHIL- 
OSOPHERS REFUSED  TO  ACCEPT  THE  OBVIOUS  FACT 
THAT  LSD  IS  TO  PSYCHOLOGY  &  RELIGION  WHAT  THE 
MICROSCOPE  WAS  TO  BIOLOGY.  IT  WILL  ONCE  AGAIN 
ROUTINELY  REQUIRE  A  NEW  GENERATION  TO  CATCH  ON. 

IT  ALSO  ASTONISHES  ME  THAT  PSYCHOLOGISTS  AND 
PHILOSOPHERS  CAN  READ  ABOUT  THE  IMPRINT  EXPERI- 

87 


MENTS  AND  NOT  APPLY  THEM  TO  THE  GENESIS  OF  HUMAN 
PSYCHOLOGY.  IT  DOES  REQUIRE  THE  ACCEPTANCE  OF 
THE  NOTION  OF  THE  RELATIVITY  OF  ONTOLOGIES.  YOU 
HAVE  TO  ADMIT  THAT  THERE  ARE  MANY  LEVELS  OF 
;^EALITY  AND  THAT  THE  REALITY  EACH  HUMAN  BEING 
ACCEPTS  IS  A  BIOCHEMICAL  ACCIDENT.  THE  PSYCHOLO- 
GIST CANT  ADMIT  THIS  ABOUT  HIS  PATIENTS  BECAUSE 
HE  WOULD  THEN  HAVE  TO  ACCEPT  THE  FACT  THAT  THE 
PRINCIPLE  APPLIES  TO  HIMSELF.  THE  NOTION  OF  RE-IM- 
PRINTING (WHICH  I  FIRST  DESCRIBED  IN  A  FOREWORD  TO 
SOLOMON'S  BOOK  ON  LSD)  IS  THE  REDEEMING,  JOYOUS, 
DIVINITY-PRODUCING  NOTION  THAT  SAVES  THE  WHOLE 
ONTOLOGICAL  GAME. 

VI.   Poena  Sensus:   The  poena   sensus,   or  pain   of  sense   consists   in   the 

torment  of  so  frequently  mentioned  in  the  Holy  Writ.  The  demons 

suffer  the  torment  of even  when,  by  permission,  they  leave 

the  confines  of  hell  and  roam  around  earth.  In  what  manner  this  happens 
is  uncertain. 

275  ASA  166  Taylor  v.  San  Bernadino  Superior  Court — 
GARDNER,  Pro  Tern:  At  5  a.m.,  police  officers  arrested 
defendant  for  a  vehicle  mechanical  violation.  After  it  had 
been  ascertained  that  there  was  an  outstanding  arrest 
warrant  against  him  for  another  traffic  offense,  he  was 
placed  under  arrest  on  the  traffic  warrant.  At  police  re- 
quest, deft,  removed  the  contents  of  his  pockets.  His 
cigarette  lighter  was  taken  apart,  and  in  a  recessed  area 
a  useable  quantity  of  hashish  was  found.  Deft,  had  not 
consented  to  the  inspection  of  this  inside  area.  Charged 
with  the  resulting  offense,  deft,  moved  for  PenC  1538.5 
suppression  of  evidence.  His  motion  was  denied,  and  he 
now  sought  prohibition.  Writ  DENIED. 
(1)  Deft's  constitutional  rights  were  not  violated  when  the 
police  officer  ordered  him  to  empty  his  pockets  prior  to 
a  pat  down  search.  (2)  The  original  taking  of  the  cigarette 
lighter  by  the  police  was  not  unreasonable.  While  it  may 
not  qualify  as  a  weapon  in  the  traditional  sense,  It  could 
have  been  thrown  at  the  officer  or  used  to  burn  him.  (3) 
The  search  of  the  lighter  was  not  unreasonable.  The  offi- 
cer testified  of  his  past  experience  in  finding  razor  blades 
concealed  within  Zippo-type  lighters. 

After  breakfast,  the  sergeant's  clerk,  sturdy,  executive  elite 
con  named  Milton,  walk  to  bed.  "Leary.  Were  you  expecting 
some  kind  of  Supreme  Court  action?" 

"Yes,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  I  should  hear  today." 


88 


"Well  !  just  heard  on  the  radio  that  they  shot  you  down. 
Denied  your  appeal.  You  and  Huey  Newton." 

Don't  remember  what  said. 

"Sorry  to  tell  you  bluntly  this  way,  but  you  might  as  well 
know  about  it  right  away." 

"Its  all  up  to  Justice  Douglas  now,"  eye  sad. 

Spent  the  daze  of  gloom.  Our  life  now  depends  upon  one 
man  with  a  pace-making  machine  in  noble  heart.  William  O. 
Douglas.  Naturalist.  Rebel.  Friend  of  youth.  Mountain  man. 
Liberal.  Outspoken  libertarian.  Solace  of  persecuted.  Last  hope 
of  friendless.  Husband  of  young  girl.  Hiker.  Protector  of  wild 
flowers  and  clear  mountain  streams. 

Milton  arranged  for  me  to  move  off  crowded,  bed-to-bed 
chaos  "skid-row"  to  private  cell.  "I'm  changing  my  own  job 
tomorrow,"  he  said.  "This  is  my  last  act  in  this  old  job." 

Recline  monadic  peace  of  single  cell  read  newscapers.  Full 
of  stories  about  impeachment  of  Justice  Douglas.  Our  life 
comes  before  him  at  most  crucial  time  in  his  life.  If  frees  us 
will  bring  down  on  head  more  angry  outcry.  Television  soap 
opera. 

VII.  Accidental  Pains  of  the  Damned:  According  to  theologians  the  pain 
of  the  loss  and  the  pain  of  the  sense  constitute  the  very  essence  of  hell, 
the  former  being  by  far  the  most  dreadful  part  of  eternal  punishment.  But 
the  damned  also  suffer  various  "accidental"  punishments. 

Crito  when  he  heard  this,  made  a  sign  to  the  servant;  and  the  servant  went 
in,  and  remained  for  some  time,  and  then  returned  with  the  jailer  carrying 
the  cup  of  poison.  Socrates  said:  "You,  my  good  friend,  who  are  experi- 
enced in  these  matters,  shall  give  me  directions  how  I  am  to  proceed." 

We'll  know  in  five  days  whether  we  are  to  live  and  flourish 
in  love  or  to  die  in  prison  cell. 

Picked  up  paper  and  read  story  about  torture  in  Greek 
prisons.  The  picture  illustrating  the  story  was  Jean-Paul  David's 
oil  painting  celebrating  "The  Death  of  Socrates."  The  bawdy 
pleasure-seeking  irresponsible  Athenian,  reclining  on  a  couch, 
left  hand  raised  in  the  "V"  of  peace,  right 'hand  holding  the 
hemlock.  Surrounded  by  friends. 

The  cosmic  script-writers  never  miss  a  trick,  do  they? 

To  day  of  dangerous  gloom  predicted  by  the  horoscope- 
Thursday,  April  23,  1970:  Moon  quincunx  Sun:  Good  fortune 
may  seem  to  be  extremely  far  away. 

Moon  opposition  Mars:  Destructive  emotions  can  reach  a 
peak  of  dangerous  intensity. 


89 


And  its  going  to  get  worse: 

Friday,  April  24,  1970:  Moon  quincunx  Saturn:  If  a  problem 
can  neither  be  escaped  nor  solved,  get  a  fresh  view. 

Saturday,  April  25,  1970:  Sun  parallel  Saturn:  It  has  been 
accurately  said  that  when  the  bottom  is  reached,  there  is 
nowhere  to  go  but  up. 

Sunday,  April  26, 1970:  Rosemary's  thirty-fifth  birthday.  (Mari- 
anne died  on  my  thirty-fifth  birthday.) 

Moon  quincunx  Mars:  The  services  of  authority  could  be 
the  prescription  for  danger. 

Mars  trine  Uranus:  Get  out  with  your  mate  for  jaunts  to  see 
interesting  new  sights  and  scenery. 

Monday,  April  27th:  Venus  opposition  Neptune:  Distances 
between  loved  ones  may  be  sad  but  closed  by  affectionate 
communication. 

Tuesday,  April  28th  1970:  Mercury  parallel  Venus.  Learn 
how  to  be  a  specialist  In  the  art  of  charming  with  words  of 
honey. 

Wednesday,  April  29th  1970 

Jupiter  sem'tile  Neptune:  Time  8:39  a.m.  E.S.T.  Here  it  is!!! 
RECEIVING  SPECIAL  CONSIDERATION  COULD  BE  THE 
EQUIVALENT  OF  FINDING  A  GOLD  MINE  IN  THE  SKY 

Moon  parallel  Sun,  1:45  p.m.  P.S.T.:  THOSE  WHO  RANK 
HIGH  SHOULD  BE  RECEPTIVE  TO  YOUR  SCIENTIFIC  IDEAS 

Jupiter  enters  Libra,  9:52  p.m.,  P.S.T. 

Thursday  April  30,  1970 

Moon  sextile  Saturn:  6:48  p.m.  P.S.T.  WHEN  AT  LAST  ALL 
IS  IN  GOOD  ORDER,  SATISFACTION  MAY  BE  ENJOYED 

Sitting  desk  3:00  p.m.  Thursday  April  23,  probing  future. 
Comforted.  Praying.  Om.  I  love  you. 

The  damned  never  experience  even  the  least  real  pleasure. 

"In  depth"  interview  with  counselor  this  morning.  Think 
beforehand  about  what  to  say. 

Only  choice.  Try  make  her  feel  good.  Try  make  most  memo- 
rable, life-changing  experience  of  both  our  lives. 

Interview  dis-appointment.  For  hour  and  half  she  pore  over 
folder,  frowning.  Making  sure  not  missed  vital  statistic  in  long 
complicated  life. 

She  shake  head  sighing. 

She  finally  got  around  to  the  basic  question.  Sorrowful 
puzzlement.  "Is  it  necessary  for  people  to  smoke  marijuana 
and  take  LSD  to  find  religious  meaning?" 

"It's  a  completely  individual  personal  matter,  this  decision 


90 


as  to  what  you  need  to  turn  you  on  to  God  and  beauty  and 
meaning.  One  man  needs  sunshine,  another,  prayer,  another 
the  special  smile  in  your  eyes.  It  is  only  necessary  that  you 
be  true  to  the  grace  that  works  for  you  and  not  cop  out  ori  it." 

The  retrobate  must  live  in  the  midst  of  the  damned,  and  their  outbursts  of 
hatred  or  of  reproach  as  they  gloat  over  his  sufferings,  and  their  hideous 
presence  are  an  ever  fresh  source  of  torment. 


91 


April  24     70     Chino 


Waves  of  nervousness  come.  On  days  expecting  news.  Hands 
wet.  Need  to  move.  Caged  animal.  White  man's  busy-ness  due 
to  bad-nerves.  Whitey  cage  him  own  wild  animal  in  offices. 
Jangles  serene  body  nature  with  him  nervousness.  When 
Blacks  caged  sing  and  laugh  and  wait. 


92 


April  26     70     Chino 


Immobilized  paralysis.  Low  energy.  Waiting.  No  juice  start 
new  project.  Love  sick.  Incredible  experience.  ^  Koestler  in 
Franco  prison  waiting  each  day  to  learn  if  he  would  be 
marched  out  to  firing  squad.  What  effect  will  this  brush  with 
the  shadow  of  death  have  on  our  future  life?  Just  want  to  enjoy 
simple  things  with   love. 

Elderly  guard  suddenly  gets  on  me.  Orders  me  sideburned 
to  barber.  Get  hour  shampoo-massage.  Enemy  sideburner  not 
satisfied.  Orders  me  back.  Look  from  second  tier  down  upon 
it.  It  is  almost  completely  bald  with  white  stubble  around  its 
ears  and  neck.  It  doesn't  like  me. 

Mention  to  my  gurus.  Laugh.  "There  are  several  guards  here 
who  are  really  down  on  you.  Blame  you  for  all  the  problems 
of  the  young.  They  say  you  don't  deserve  equal  treatment." 

Equal  treatment!  The  bizarre  effects  institutional  inertia.  I 
live  here  with  a  thousand  men  whose  misery  so  great  wonder 
how  endure.  Marvel  at  the  callousness  of  guards.  No  equal 
share  of  suffer. 

Watching  reaction  of  guards.  About  a  third  go  out  of  their 
way  to  be  friendly.  They  are  younger.  About  a  third  pay  no 
attention.  And  a  third  go  out  of  way  to  be  mean.  They  are 
older. 

VIII.  Characteristics  of  the  pains  of  hell:  The  pains  of  hell  differ  in  degree 
according  to  demerit.  This  holds  true  not  only  of  the  pain  of  sense,  but 
also  of  the  pain  of  loss. 

Here  more  philosophy  and  more  poetry  hear  than  on  the 
outside. 

Middle-class  educated  prisoners  tend  to  be  here  on  sex 
beefs.  Wife  murder.  Varieties  of  rape.  Musty  franks  of  child 
molesting. 

Really  we  are  all  MDSO's.  Mentally  disordered  sex  offenders. 
The  punishment  is  emasculinization. 


93 


April  27     70     Chmo 


Waiting.  Waiting.  Waiting  for  Life  Sentence.  Justice  Wil- 
liam O.  Douglas  considering  where  and  when  and  how  we 
shall  die. 

His  character  and  actions  dominate  newspapers  these  days. 
At  this  time  deciding  our  fate  has  become  most  magnetized- 
polarized  personality  in  country.  Hearst  paper  cartoon  pictures 
him  as  tiny  infantile-senile  clown.  Times  features  a  picture 
of  the  nobleman  and  his  beautiful  young  wife  during  a  twenty- 
mile  hike  taken  to  preserve  a  little  river  in  Maryland. 

He  two  born  under  sign  of  Libra. 

Yesterday  was  Rosemary's  birth  anniversary.  Soon  celebrate 
re-birthday. 

Final  step  before  transfer  out  of  this  boot-camp  to  your 
"permanent"  prison  is  the  assignment  of  "Legal  Status." 
Diploma-report  card  listing  penitential  condition. 

The  man  answered:  "You  have  only  to  walk  around  until  your  legs  are 
heavy,  and  then  to  lie  down,  and  the  poison  will  act."  At  the  same  time 
he  handed  the  cup  to  Socrates,  who  in  the  easiest  and  gentlest  manner, 
without  the  least  fear  or  change  of  color  or  feature,  looking  at  the  man 
with  all  his  eyes,  as  his  manner  was,  took  the  cup  and  said:  "What  do  you 
say  about  making  a  libation  out  of  this  cup  to  any  God?  May  I,  or  not?" 

The  pains  of  hell  are  essentially  immutable;  they  are  not  temporary  in- 
termissions or  passing  alleviations.  A  few  theologians  and  Fathers,  in  par- 
ticular the   poet   Prudentius,   expressed  the  opinion   that  on   stated   days, 

grants  the  damned  a   certain   respite,   and  that   besides  this  the 

prayers  of  the  faithful  obtain  for  them  other  occasional  intervals  of  rest. 
The  Church  has  never  condemned  this  opinion  in  express  terms.  But  now 
theologians  ar6  justly  unanimous  in  rejecting  it.  St.  Thomas  condemns  it 
severely  (in  IV  Sent,:  dist.  xiv,  Q.xxix,  c  1.1) 

WHERE  TO  HAVE  A  PSYCHEDELIC  EXPERIENCE 
The  best  places  are  holy  grounds,  riverbanks,  caves,  sites 
of  pilgrimage,  the  summits  of  mountains,  confluents  of  rivers, 
sacred  forests,  solitary  groves,  the  shade  of  the  Bel  tree, 
valleys,  places  overgrown  with  Tuisi  plants,  pasture  lands, 
icmples  of  Siva  without  a  bull,  the  foot  of  a  sacred  fig  tree, 
or  of  an  Amalaki  tree,  cowsheds,  islands,  sanctuaries,  the  shore 


94 


of  the  sea,  one's  own  house,  the  abode  of  one's  teacher,  places 
which  tend  to  inspire  single-pointedness,  lonely  places  free 
from  animals.  Gandharva-tantra 

PREPARATION  FOR  A  PSYGHEDELIC  EXPERIENCE 
The  purification  of  the  person  of  the  worshipper  consists  in 
bathing.  The  purification  of  the  subtle  elements  of  the  body 
is  done  through  breath  control,  and  through  the  dedication  of 
the  six  main  parts  of  the  body  to  the  six  deities  to  which  they 
correspond. 

The  purification  of  the  place  of  worship  is  done  by  cleaning 
it  carefully,  adorning  it  with  an  auspicious  ornamentation  using 
five  colors,  placing  cushions,  a  canopy,  using  Incense,  lights, 
flowers,  garlands.  All  this  must  be  done  by  the  worshippers 
themselves. 

Meditating  on  Tantra. 

Worship  of  the  female  energy.  Sakti.  Wife  of  Siva. 

She  rests  curled  at  the  bottom  of  the  spine. 

She  unfolds  through  the  seven  levels  of  orgasm:  Sex.  Elmi- 
nation.  Digestion.  Circulation.  Respiration.  Sensation.  Cerebral. 

"Oh,  beloved,  having  pierced  the  entire  kula  path,  in  the 
thousand  petaled  lotus  you  sport  in  secret  with  your  lord." 

(The  cosmos  as  mirrored  in  the  body.  Evolves  in  seven 
stages  which  are  described  as  the  seven  levels  of  erotic-somatic 
consciousness.) 

In  the  house  of  sleep  to  tidy  up  clutter  of  day. 

Sleeping  consciousness.  Classic  cartoon:  old  cleaning 
woman  with  broom  under  her  arm  leaning  over  president's 
desk  punging  soapy  comments  on  daily  male. 

Last  evening  read  Tantra. 

During  night  lingam  erection. 

Sunrise  out  of  bed  to  make  notes  on  Tantric  meaning  of 
language. 

To  eroticize  all  of  life  (and  what  else  is  there  to  do?)  we 
must  be  sure  that  our  language  reflects  energy  situation.  Bi- 
sacred. 

Our  western  language  reflects  impers9nal  rape.  Subject- 
predicate-object. 

I  do  you.  You  do  me.  He  does  her.  She  does  him.  We  do 
them.  You  do  us.  They  do  them. 

And  a  queer  bewildering  croak  we  make  of  the  passive 
voice:  I  am  being  done  to.  You  are  being  done  to.  She  is  being 
done  to.  We  are  being  done  to.  They  are  being  done  to. 

The  active-passive  voices  should  murmur  reciprocal  words. 
Ah  there.  Yes.  Inaudible  meshing. 


95 


Active:  I  do.  I  love.  I  touch.  I  taste.  I  hear.  I  see.  I  hurt. 
Passive:  I  dews.  I  loves.  I  touches.  I  tastes.  I  hears.  I  hurts. 

The  man  answered:  "We  only  prepare,  Socrates,  just  so  much  as  we 
deem  enough."  "I  understand,"  he  said,  "yet  I  may  and  must  pray  to  the 
gods  to  prosper  my  journey  from  this  to  the  other  world — may  this  then, 
which  is  my  prayer,  be  granted  to  me."  Then,  holding  the  cup  to  his  lips, 
quite  readily  and  cheerfully  he  drank  the  poison. 

However,  accidental  changes  in  the  pains  of  hell  are  not  excluded.  Thus 
it  may  be  that  the  retrobate  is  sometimes  less  tormented  by  his  surroundings. 

It's  very  clear 

Our  love  is  here 

To  stay 

Not  for  a  year 

Forever  and 

A  day 

The  radio  .  .  .  and 

The  telephone  .  .  .  and 

The  movies 

That  we  know 

May  just  be  passing  fancies 

And 

In  time 

May  go  .  .  .  but  oh  My  dear 

Our  love 

Is  here 

To  stay 

Together  we're 

Going  a  long,  long  way 

In  time 

The  Rockies  may  crumble 

Gibralter  may  tumble 

They're  only  made  of  clay  ...  but 

Our  love 

Is  here 

To  stay 

Power  of  imprint-folk  song:  At  the  darkest,  darkest  moment 
suddenly  found  myself  whistling  this  song. 


96 


April  29     70     Chino 


Funny  sad  vacation  planning  discussions  selecting  prisons. 
Tehachapl  in  the  mountains.  Fresh  air.  All  new  buildings.  But 
remote.  CMC  East.  Private  ceils  with  key.  Golf  course.  Swim- 
ming pool.  CIM  color  TV,  golf  course.  Swimming  pool.  Treat- 
ment oriented.  Thits  call  you  "Mister."  Quentin:  near  San  Fran- 
cisco. Good  medical  care.  Four  big  yards.  Lots  of  room  to 
move  around.  Contact  visits.  Forestry  camps:  work  hard  out- 
side. All  the  dope  you  want.  Folsom:  good  place  to  do  time. 
Old  long  term  professional  cons.  Quiet.  Soledad:  dread  scene. 
Gladiator  school.  Thits  issue  you  wooden  sword  and  garbage 
can  lid.  When  friend  tells:  I'm  on  the  list  to  ship  out.  Where 
are  you  going?  Soledad.  Long  pause.  What  to  say.  Well,  it's 
not  so  bad.  It's  what  you  make  it,  right? 

THE  BASIC  ISSUE  OF  THE  CENTURY: 
COMA  OR  SOMA 

HUMOR 

Humor  may  be  defined  as  that  within  us.  Within  us.  Which 
sets  up  a  kindly  contemplation  of  the  incongruities  of  life,  and 
the  expression  of  that  sense  in  art,  in  art. 

The  word  thus  means  either  something  within  ourselves,  as 
when  we  speak  of  a  "man  of  humor,"  or  something  objective, 
as  in  speaking  of  a  comedy  "full  of  humor."  Speak  of  a  man 
of  humor. 

The  element  of  kindliness,  of  kindliness,  is  essential  to 
humor.  There  must  not  only  be  perception  of  the  peculiarities, 
the  contrasts,  the  shortcomings  which  lead  to  incongruous 
effect,  but  there  must  be  a  tolerant  acceptance  of  them.  A 
tolerant  acceptance  of  them. 

The  word  "humor"  has  carried  down  through  the  language 
of  Europe  a  peculiar  etymology.  In  origin  it  means  "wetness," 
in  origin  it  means  wetness,  and  is  of  the  same  source  as 
"humidity." 

At  the  dawn  of  medical  science,  medical  science,  (this  Is 
Important)  medical  science,  Hippocrates  (c.  400  B.C.)  recog- 


97 


nized  four  chief  currents  or  "humors"  in  the  human  body: 
phlegm,  blood,  choler,  black  bile. 

If  the  flow  of  each  was  normal,  a  man  was  said  to  be  in 
good  "humor,"  but  if  irregular,  then  disease  (dis-ease)  ap- 
peared and  the  man  was  in  an  "ill  humor." 

The  decline  of  medical  knowledge,  DECLINE  OF  MEDICAL 
KNOWLEDGE,  threw  the  term  into  a  vague  significance  of 
good  and  bad  condition  and  presently  to  caprice  or  whim 
occasioned  by  one's  condition. 

Soma  was  the  inspiration  of  the  Vedas.  The  Vedas  are  the 
source  of  all  human  philosophy.  When  Soma  was  no  longer 
available,  the  key  to  the  Vedas  was  lost.  When  the  key  to  the 
Vedas  was  lost,  man  was  rudderless. 

While  eye  copy  this  item  from  the  Encyclopedia  in  the  Chino 
prison  library  a  middle-aged  convict  say  to  me,  "Hey,  isn't 
your  name  Reilly?"  "Indeed  it  is,"  I  reply. 

"I've  seen  you  somewhere  before." 

"Indeed  you  have,"  I  sigh. 

"Let's  see.  Reilly.  Reilly.  Were  you  ever  in  the  Old  County 
Jail  in  LA.?" 

"Not  L.A.  T.V."  I  sly. 

He  said.  "Of  course.  Tim  Reilly.  Narcotics!  Right." 

Put  me  finger  to  maya  mouth.  "Shh."  I  dread. 

"How  much  time  did  you  bring?"  he  solicitates. 

"Enough,  I  hope,"  sez  eye. 

American  humor  is  characterized  by  a  detachment  from 
traditional  reverences  and  conventional  beliefs. 

Hippocratic  principle.  Basis  of  all  psychology  and  religion. 
Your  Inner  juices  determine  your  state  of  mind  and  your  level 
of  consciousness.  Keep  the  flow  normal.  If  your  fluids  are  out 
of  balance,  ingest  the  proper  medicament,  to  solvage  your 
predicament. 

Psychology  is  alchemy  plus  astrology.  Modern  terms:  psycho- 
pharmacology  plus  bio-rhythmic  sequential  analysis. 

Psychology  and  religion  degenerated  into  a  primitive  ab- 
straction game  when  the  Hippocratic  key  was  lost.  Some  dope 
turned  off  the  hope. 

Notes  from  the  Underground:  Find  self  whistling  or  humming 
tune.  Unconscious  muse-ack  background.  Replay  tape.  What's 
the  name  of  that  tune?  Today  it's  Kiss  me  once  and  kiss  me 
twice  and  kiss  me  once  again  its  been  a  long,  long  time. 

Especially  after  the  last  judgment  there  will  be  an  accidental  increase  of 
punishment;  for  then  the  demons  will  never  again  be  permitted  to  leave 
the  confines  of  hell,  but  will  finally  be  imprisoned  for  all  eternity;  and  the 
retrobate  souls  of  men  will  be  tormented  by  union  with  their  hideous  bodies. 


98 


Here  is  home  of  Mesomorph.  On  iron  pile,  around  the  yard 
musculature.  Body  building.  Rippling  corded  malestrength. 
Ksatriya  shock  troop  warriors.  Barred  and  chained  from 
"woman. 

Con  folk  lore.  "Women  are  really  hungry  for  a  guy  when 
they  know  he  just  come  out  of  prison  .  .  .  Run  after  him  heatly. 
Harlen  say  everytime  he  hit  the  street  he  has  to  beat  them 
away." 

Every  body  smile  drift  off  fond  fantasy. 

And  hitherto  most  of  us  had  been  able  to  control  our  sorrow;  but  now 
when  we  saw  him  drinking,  and  saw  too  that  he  had  finished  the  draught, 
we  could  no  longer  forebear,  and  in  spite  of  myself  my  own  tears  were 
flowing  fast;  so  that  I  covered  my  face  and  wept  over  myself;  for  certainly 
I  was  not  weeping  over  him,  but  at  the  thought  of  my  own  calamity  in 
having  lost  such  a  companion. 

YOUR  LETTER  IS  RETURNED  FOR  THE  REASON(s) 
CHECKED  BELOW:  MENTIONING  OTHER  INMATES  BY 
NAME  OR  NUMBER,  OR  RELATING  INSTITUTIONAL  GOSSIP 

Brother  called  to  third  floor  window  looking  down  lawn  be 
low.  "See  the  gopher.  I've  been  watching  him  dig  that  hole 
for  a  week."  Just  inside  wire  fence  near  road  where  prison 
busses  imcourt-excourt  green  grass  covered  with  brown  earth. 
Thin  white-grey  rodent  pushing  dirt  with  tiny  hands.  Glimpse 
around  duck  back  in. 

"Think  he's  trying  to  escape?" 

"He's  making  a  warm  nest  for  his  lady  and  the  kids.  Poor 
guy.  He  doesn't  know  he's  inside  the  prison  walls." 
"He  ain't  in  prison.  He  don't  know  what  prison  is." 
"Wait  until  the  guard  in  the  gun  tower  sees  him." 
"They'd  enjoy  shooting  him.  Or  they'll  gas  him." 
"Had  some  on  my  lawn  once.  Put  chemical  down  the  hole 
to  get  them  but  instead  it  killed  a  whole  row  of  flowers." 

Watching  little  gopher  father  innocently,  dearly  preparing 
home  for  his  children.  Inside  the  prison  walls.  Extra-terrestrial 
observer  watching  us. 

Rosemary  sent  picture.  Sitting  in  corn  'looking  wisely  into 
camera.  Carefully  mount  it  on  cardboard  and  attach  to  wall 
of  cell.  When  I  look  in  to  her  eyes,  eye  see  my  soul.  Ancient 
racial  old  friend  recognition.  Oh  the  life  times. 

Susan  poised  between  new  life  and  old  death.  Om.  Shanti. 

Bill  Capricorn  returns  from  visit  to  Palm  Hall.  Dormitory  for 
violent   brothers.   Whew!   Talk   about   custody.    Locks   within 


99 


locks  within  locks.  In  cells  most  of  the  time.  Let  out  in  special 
yard  in  pairs.  Most  of  them  can't  be  let  out  with  anyone  else. 
Some  will  attack  anyone  they  get  loose  with.  They  aren't 
psycho.  Just  wound  up  to  kill.  Anyone  they  can  reach.  Some 
at  Vacaville  so  violent.  Orders  require  four  guards  to  be  with 
him  when  outside  cell.  Two  on  side.  Two  behind  him.  Huskiest 
guards. 

Hell  is  a  state  of  the  greatest  and  most  complete  misfortune,  as  is  evident 
from  all  that  has  been  said.  The  damned  have  no  joy  whatever  and  it  were 
better  for  them  that  they  had  not  been  born  .  .  .  (Matt.  XXVI,  24) 

Remembering  first  day  in  Chino  prison.  Walked  eagerly  to 
yard. 

After  lunar  month  in  single-cell  isolation  county  jail  every 
pale  face  cell  hungered  yearning  turned  to  sunlight  botanical 
tropism.  Small  grassy  area  outfield  of  softball.  Ripped  off  heavy 
shoes  green  grass  earth  on  bare  feet.  Took  off  shirt  facing  sun. 
Long  drinking  starved  meditation  solar. 

Check  the  action.  Six  hundred  men  in  small  square  sur- 
rounded by  walls  barb-wired  roof  high  fences  bobbed  wired 
coiled,  gun-tower  catwalk.  Out  to  south  green  meadows  dairy 
cattle  grazing.  Youth  Authority  camp  kids  care  for  cows. 

Score  of  Blacks  clustered  around  foot-high  wooden  platform 
lifting  weights.  Few  tattooed,  burly  whites.  Four  handball  courts 
against  western  wall.  Chicanes  slicing  graceful  driving  black 
needle  ball,  shouting  in  Spanish.  Blacks  and  whites  playing 
Softball.  Ten  on  a  side  volleyball.  Five  on  a  side  one-basket 
ball.  Hundred  men  sit  disconsolately  on  outfield  grass.  Hundred 
men  sitting  benches  by  park  tables. 

I  was  the  only  one  barefoot.  Why  do  these  men  imprison  their 
feets?  Hey  man,  barefoots  gainst  da  rules.  Ask  guard.  O.K.  do 
yoga  barefoot?  Surprised  careless  shrug.  Sure.  There's  no  rule 
against  barefoot.  Just  bare-ass.  Just  keep  your  pants  on. 

First  few  days  doing  yoga,  shy  curious  collect  around.  Stand- 
ing on  my  head  answering  questions.  What's  your  time,  man? 
Didn't  they  get  you  smuggling  in  Texas?  Let  me  run  my  case 
down  for  you.  Upside  down  reality.  Man  you  made  of  rubber. 

By  third  day  Wolf  Man  join  me.  Sturdy  black-haired  nineteen 
years,  acid-saddhu,  moved  barefoot,  shirtless  across  yard 
wild-animal  shy,  always  shining  smile.  Celestial  gossip.  Each 
day  walks  up  with  question  about  lycergic  angel  visions. 
There  was  this  bird-like  creature,  radiant  like  sun  carrying 
golden  cup  with  diagram  like  this.  Was  that  the  Holy  Ghost? 

He  live  in  federal  parks  with  sleeping  bag  and  dog.  Once 
two  policemen  came  to  him  on  beach  and  when  dog  bark 


100 


thjts  drew  guns  on  dog.  Carrying  Catholic  Encyclopedia  read- 
ing sections  on  revelation-visions.  This  one  on  the  beach  at 
Mazatlan,  four  black  angels,  two  on  either  side  of  the  throne 
of  God  holding  silver  fire.  Incubi  and  succubi,  is  that  how  you 
pronounce  them?  We  pray  together.  Hail  Mary.  Our  Father. 
Om  Mani  Padma  Hum. 
Wolf  Man  and  I  two  wild  animals  in  barefoot  shirtless. 

Gentle  holy  days  but  sleepless  nights.  Yoga  working  too 
well. 

Yoga  is  the  generation,  control,  and  distribution  of  erotic 
energy. 

To  understand  the  fundamental  principles  of  erotics,  it  Is 
well  to  start  with  the  experiments  performed  by  the  early 
Vedic  Hindus.  If  two  bodies  are  brought  Into  intimate  contact, 
e.g.  by  pressure  or  rubbing  together  and  then  separated,  they 
have  certain  new  properties,  the  most  marked  of  which  is 
the  power  of  attracting.  Bodies  possessing  this  power  are  said 
to  be  "eroticized." 

It  is  easily  observed  that,  if  certain  bodies  are  charged,  the 
erotic  effects  are  manifested  only  at  the  points  where  the  con- 
tact was  made  with  the  other  body;  while  with  other  bodies 
the  erotic  effects  are  manifested  over  the  whole  body  regard- 
less of  where  the  contact  was  made.  Bodies  of  the  latter  kind 
are  called  "conductors,"  the  former  "non-conductors." 

Yoga  is  a  method  for  converting  mechanical  energy  into 
erotic  energy  by  means  of  continuous  flowing  movements  pro- 
ducing current  of  tension.  Consider  two  magnetic  poles  of 
opposite  polarity  producing  fields  of  force  body  warm,  muscles 
hard  supple  alternating  currents  in-breath  exhale.  Humming 
power  makes  the  sound  of  OM.  Purr  of  galactic  machinery. 
OM. 

If  an  isolated  conductor  is  charged,  there  will  be  a  definite 
distribution  of  charge  over  the  surface  but  if  another  con- 
ductor is  brought  near  it,  the  distribution  will  be  altered  by 
the  new  force.  Lying  in  bed  alone  kundalin  serpent  power 
un-coiled  nuclear  if  now  this  second  conductor  is  suddenly 
removed  the  charge  will  oscillate  surrounding  disturbances  of 
magnetic  field  insomniac  can't  sleep. 

Tantra  is  communionism  plus  electricity. 

Gentlemen,  how  shall  we  harness  this  awesome  energy  for 
the  benefit  of  mankind  and  a  tranquil  night's  sleep.  Handball? 

Freddie  friendly  speak  freak  begs  me  play  handball.  One 
past  incarnation  played  three  time  week  on  faculty  courts 
at  Berkeley.   Freddie  and  eye   play  one   game   against  wiry 


101 


Chicanos.  After  few  bumbling  moments  they  stop  and  look  to 
sidelines  expectantly.  Que  pasa?  Game  over.  They  took  you 
eight  to  nothing.  Clumpsy  shame. 

There  are  four  courts  graded  according  to  ability,  north  to 
south.  Our  hippy  band  move  to  corner  wall,  not  really  a  king's 
court,  begin  child's  play  circle.  Make  up  ground  rules.  Ball  hit 
side  benches  or  sitting  spectators;  out!  Ball  angle  under 
bench,  hit  poles:  good! 

Slowly  grace  skill  dervish  rhythm  turns.  Dance  begins  to 
formalize.  Tall  rangy  Greyhound  puppy  Jon  becomes  partner. 
We  reach  that  adeption  where  hand-wall-ball  become  one  two 
three  winged  rubber  band  web  of  movement.  Concentrate  on 
yoga  of  foot  placement.  Move  foot  left  right  body  automatically 
orbiting  whips  arm  around  Interstellar  star  colliding  hurtling 
black  rubber  plan  it,  whack! 

Concentrate  on  breathing  as  ball  bounce  up  cement  inhale 
up,  up  swelling  swinging  arm,  there,  exact  moment  of  ex- 
plosion, exhale  ball  back  to  wall. 

Handball.  Zen  ball.  Now  and  then  ball  kundalin  man  ball. 
Whirl  and  shuttle  Sufi  trance,  high  intoxication,  drumming 
rhythm.  Partner  left,  slide  right.  Weaving  lines  embroider  op- 
ponent's loom. 

The  game  shifts  from  muscular  competition  to  magic. 

See  it  first  with  Wolf  Man.  Follows  me  over  furry  learns  how 
to  imitate  me  wrap  blue  handkerchief  over  gentle  paws  lum- 
bers novice  around  court.  Natural  grace  adapts  quickly  but 
hitting,  driving  rhythm  alien  to  amator  nature. 

Deflecting  Jon's  protestant  drive.  "Common  man  we'll  mur- 
der them."  Oh  no,  brother.  It's  a  dance  not  a  sport.  "Common 
man,  we'll  skunk  these  dump-trucks  eight  to  nothing."  Oh  no 
brother.  We  seek  perfect  balance.  Perfect  means  perfectly 
matched.  We  seek  the  game  that  goes  on  forever.  Chunga 
means  game  point.  What  does  chunga  mean  in  Spanish? 
Female  monkey.  We  seek  chunga  chunga,  eleven-eleven  go 
back  to  eight  endless  rallies.  It's  the  play  off  not  the  pay  off. 

Wolf  Man  magic.  Awkard  lunge  him  ball  hit  inch  above 
ground.  Good!  Tide  turns.  I  makes  three  mistakes  in  row.  Wolf 
Man  wins.  Wolf  Man?  Look  at  him.  God  didn't  want  us  to  win 
that  one.  Animal  smile  understand.  Smiles  and  nods  dumbly. 
Next  game  eye  say,  O.K.  Wolf  Man  this  time  magic  swings 
away  and  partner  Jon's  long  drives  click  a  line. 

Gradually  without  explicit  plan  we  drift  south  to  official 
courts.  Challenge  minor  leagers.  Jon  loping  easily  backcourt. 
I  forecourt  feline.  Game  of  space  time.  Floating  Tao  position. 
We  win  effortlessly.  So  smooth  routine  Jon  slopes  off  frivolous, 


102 


mischievious.  Borrows  crutches  and  lets  me  play  all  game. 
Patty  cakes.  Hits  ball  over  roof  carelessly  or  into  high  guard 
wire  so  we  lift  him  on  shoulders  he  scrambles  up  wall  gun- 
tower  guard  bending  over  worried  and  pries  ball  loose. 

You're  getting  bored  with  win  so  easy.  Time  to  move  to 
south  court  play  Chicanes.  Jon  highbrows  raise. 

Walk  on  center  court  winballton.  Self-consciously  ask  for 
tally.  New  stags  enter  breeding  circle  machism.  Tribal  testing 
ritual.  Chicanes  shrug.  Glance  at  size  of  our  antlers. 

Time  to  play.  Warm  up  stiffly.  Challengers  serve.  Glance 
back  at  burly  macho.  Bola!  Look  to  Rosemary  sitting  in  front 
row  sombra.  I  dedicate  this  corrida  to  you  beautiful  woman.  I 
serve  high  lazy  arching  hit  back  right  corner  so  Jesus  angle 
to  me.  Move  to  watch,  his  feet  tell  he  two  wise  drive  high  down 
right  to  Jon,  who  long-legged  jump  drive  high  right  Jesus 
surprised  fades  back  I  shift  left  waiting.  Jesus  ball  hard  but 
too  middle  I  slice  to  low  right  corner  Pancho  quick  dart  misses. 
Shouts  "Hijo"  EEEEHO,  means  son  of  a.  Look  to  Rosemary  and 
smile  eyes. 

Una. 

Serve  again  to  same  spot.  Jesus  feet  warn  me  run  left  out  of 
court  waiting  perfect  slice  low  right,  but  nervous  too  cautious 
Pancho  sensed  play  brilliant  save  caught  me  surprise  but  skit- 
ter left  out  of  his  reach.  EEEEHO!  Rosemary  smiles  back  with 
eyes. 

Dos. 

Bouncing  ball  before  serve  like  Madrid  Fronton  glance  back, 
Jesus  nods.  Serve  same  place.  Jesus  ready  this  time  carbine 
drive  sharp-shoot  at  my  feet  caught  in  middle  only  chance 
lean  down  holding  palm  at  angle  black  rubber  richochets  off 
and  clips  wall  corner.  Murmur  of  interest  from  sidelines. 
EEEEHO! 

TRES. 

Serve.  Jesus  tiger  drive  bullet  higher  handless  let  go,  Big 
Jon  gallops  back  overhead  slinging  return  caroom  off  wall  so 
fast  catch  Pancho  In  chest.  EEEEHO!  Sideline  ripple.  Jesus 
and  Pancho  shouting  at  each  other  in  Spanish.  Self-conscious 
now  nod  to  grinning  Jon. 

Cuatro. 

Magic  flowing  so  strong  now  Jesus  golfs  next  two  serves  out 
of  bounds  and  Jon  runs  game  out  quickly  lose  no  point. 

Jon  and  I  wait  calmly  for  next  challenger  I  am  composing 
telegram  to  Justice  William  O.  Douglas.  Oh  man,  get  me  out. 
This  is  proof  positive  I've  been  here  too  long. 


103 


That  night  dreamt  playing  Jai  Alai  with  long  basket  cesta  In 
'  Fronton  Mexico  laughing. 

Not  long  ago  Mivart  advocated  the  opinion  that  the  pains  of  the  damned 
would  decrease  with  time  and  in  the  end  their  lot  would  not  be  extremely 
sad;  that  they  would  finally  reach  a  certain  kind  of  happiness  and  would 
prefer  existence  to  annihilation;  and  although  they  would  still  continue 
to   suffer   a   punishment   symbolically   described    as   a   fire    by    Holy   Writ, 

they    would    hate    no    longer,    and    the    most    unfortunate    among 

them  be  happier  than  many  a  pauper  in  this  life.  It  is  quite  obvious  that 
all  this  is  opposed  to  scripture  and  the  teaching  of  the  Church.  The  articles 
cited  were  condemned  by  the  Congregation  of  the  Index  and  the  Holy 
Office  on  May  14  and  July  19,  1893  (cf.  Hcivilta  Cattolica  I,  1893,  672). 


104 


May  5     70     Chino 


Yellow  steamy  smog  sun  sauna  handball.  Crowd  watch  fast- 
clash. 

ATTENTION  ON  THE  YARD:  LEARY  671;  REPORT  TO  THE 
SERGEANTS  OFFICE  IMMEDIATELY. 

Standing  sidelines  breathing  strip  sweat  handwraps.  It's  my 
lawyer  or  a  bail-bond  freedom-gram. 

Traffic  officer  point  Chaplain  office.  Two  gentlemen  to  see 
you. 

Two  trim  good  guys.  Federal  vibes.  FBI  or  Narcs? 

Breeze  in  flushed,  radiating  health.  My  name's  Pancho  Gon- 
zales. Can  I  get  you  a  gin  and  tonic?  Smile.  Flash  cards.  FBI. 

Gentlemen  will  you  excuse  me  a  moment  while  I  get  a 
smoke.  Go  to  my  office  next  door.  Note  pad  pencil. 

Now  what  were  your  names?  Write  them  down.  Danish? 
No.  German.  I  giggle. 

Roll  dice  for  first  move.  Do  you  happen  know  a  man  named? 

Show  dear  brother  mug  shot  chicken-plucked.  Wheresee? 
Whensee?  Whysee?  Howsee?  Wheresee?  Whathe?  Didhe? 
Couldhe?  WouJdhe? 

Truth  or  consequences.  Move  fact  pieces  carefully.  Games 
of  skill  and  intriguing  pastimes  have  captured  the  imagination 
of  the  human  race  since  the  world  began.  Origin  lost  In  antiq- 
uity. It  has  been  played  for  hundreds  of  years  in  almost  every 
country  in  the  world.  The  Romans  referred  to  it  as  "scrlpta 
magista;"  the  French  knew  it  as  "Trie  Trac."  Russians  world 
champions.  Greeks  good. 

Why  are  you  interested  in  him? 

He  failed  to  show  up  in  court.  Fugitive  fly  jail  bird.  When 
was  that?  Shuffle  file. 

Hmm.  That's  over  two  years  ago.  * 

The  most  important  strategy  is  to  bring  your  furthermost  men 
out  of  your  opponent's  home  table.  There  are  the  weakest 
members  of  your  forces  and  you  should  bring  them  to  safety 
without  delay. 

Did  he  have  any  contacts  in  foreign  country? 

Avoid  unnecessary  risks.  The  beginner  usually  attempts  an 
over  bold  game,  taking  all  kinds  of  risk  to  make  points. 


105 


That's  the  last  time  you  saw  him? 

Never  expose  a  man  to  being  hit  unless  the  risk  means  a 
greater  risk  for  your  opponent  if  he  takes  advantage  of  It. 

What  was  the  name  of  that  lawyer  you  recommended  for 
him? 

Chess  Is  mechanical  warfare.  European.  Backgammon  is 
lamic  sufi  flow.  Dice  adds  cosmic  chance.  You  gambol  through 
opponent  while  he  flow  through  you.  Go  is  God  game.  Two 
Zen  master  play  perfect  game.  Ends  in  tie.  Perfect  symmetrical 
Yin-yang  mandala  records  the  final  play.  Black  White. 

When  should  you  adopt  a  Back  Game? 

Could  you  give  us  the  names  of  his  friends? 

When  you  have  overtaken  your  opponent  start  your  men  on 
the  race  home. 

Now,  could  I  ask  yoi;  a  few  questions  about  a  man  that  we 
are  very  interested  in?  We've  had  a  laws  of  convicting  reports 
on  one  J.  Edgar  Hoover. 

They  tense. 

Is  it  true  that  FBI  agents  are  forbidden  to  have  extra  or 
pre-marital  sexual  relations? 

Smile.  Why  do  you  ask? 

Well  J.  Edgar  is  seventy-five-years-old  bachelor.  According 
to  regulations  that  makes  him  a  seventy-flve-year-old  virgin? 

Exchange  glances.  Well  we  don't  have  any  information  on 
that. 

When  is  the  last  time  you  saw  J.  Edgar  Hoover? 

Try  and  play  with  better  players,  as  this  is  one  of  the  best 
means  of  improving  your  game. 

Playing  lot  of  handball,  Doctor?  You  sure  look  healthy.  Swap 
jobs  with  you. 

Tell  truth  I  am  rebreathed  that  this  long  voice  from  past  is 
all  you  want  (or  is  it?). 

Laugh.  Yes,  I  can  imagine  you  are. 

Friendly  laughing  handshake.  They  assigned  from  L.  A. 
office.  Subject's  file  probably  in  other  city.  They  know  little 
about  case.  FBI  very  diligent  about  small  details.  Get  reports 
filed  all  over  country.  Follow  up  leads. 

The  scoring  is  usually  done  on  the  basis  of  a  Single  Game. 


106 


May  7     70     Chino 


Essence  distillate  of  prison  wisdom:  Do  your  own  time. 

Ask  Don  wise  guru.  What  does  that  mean:  Do  your  own  time? 

Smiles.  It  means.  Get  off  my  case.  Get  your  nose  out  of  my 
business.  Get  off  my  back. 

Like,  do  your  own  thing? 

Exactly.  I'm  doing  my  time.  I'll  let  you  do  your  time.  Live 
and  let  live. 

YOUR  LETTER  IS  RETURNED  FOR  THE  REASON(s) 
CHECKED  BELOW:  WRITE  IN  ENGLISH,  OTHERWISE  MAIL 
WILL  BE   DELAYED   IN   CENSORING 

Nor  was  I  the  first,  for  Crito,  when  he  found  himself  unable  to  restrain 
his  tears,  had  got  up  and  moved  away,  and  I  followed;  and  at  that  moment 
Apollodorus,  who  had  been  weeping  all  the  time,  broke  out  into  a  loud 
cry  which  made  cowards  of  us  all.  Socrates  alone  retained  his  calmness: 
"What  is  this  strange  outcry?"  he  said.  "I  sent  away  the  women  mainly 
in  order  that  they  might  not  offend  in  this  way,  for  I  have  heard  that  a 
man  should  die  in  peace.  Be  quiet,  then,  and  have  patience." 

LONG  LONG  AFTER  John  Chapman  of  Massachusetts  bought  an  apple 
orchard  WHEN  SETTLERS  PUT  UP  BEAM  AND  RAFTER  wandered  westward 
with  his  pack  and  gun  THEY  ASKED  OF  THE  BIRDS  carrying  appleseeds 
from  the  cider  presses  WHO  GAVE  THIS  FRUIT?  which  he  planted  in 
Indiana  and  Ohio  WHO  WATCHED  THIS  FENCE  TIL  THE  SEEDS  TOOK 
ROOT?  and  the  wilderness  bore  flowers  and  fruit  wherever  he  passed 
WHO  GAVE  THESE  BOUGHS?  As  the  first  nursery-man  in  the  Ohio  valley 
THEY  ASKED  THE  SKY  he  became  a  sort  of  forest  God  AND  THERE  WAS 
NO  REPLY  who  sowed  as  he  went  BUT  THE  ROBINS  MIGHT  HAVE  SAID 
and  vanished  at  last  TO  THE  FARTHEST" WEST  HE  HAS  FOLLOWED  THE 
SUN  into  the  far  new  west  HIS  LIFE  AND  HIS  EMPIRE  JUST  BEGUN. 

South  handball  court  bull  ring  of  prison.  "Rival  of  the  fittest. 
Size  fighters  from  sement  jungles  Quentin,  Soledad,  Folsom, 
Tracey  strong  termers.  Smile-driving  ball  in-chainers. 

Our  north-court  amator  Tao  dance  was  designed  to  keep 
game  going.  Long  rhythmic  rallies.  I  could  play  several  games 
never  mistaking.  Return.  Return.  Return. 

But  bull  ring  silent,  quick,  lethal  jugular.  Low  bullets  slanting 
cross  fire  inch  from  ground.  Ballistic  rocket  drives  from  steel 


107 


cabled  arms  tattooed  with  Swastikas.  No  emotion.  Ice  cool 
proud  professional  jungle  fighters.  Wolf  pack  rip  off  lame  soft. 

But  second  day  different.  Walk  up  wrapping  blue  cloth 
round  hand.  Old  Manuel  look  up.  "Take  tally  weeth  you 
Leary?"  I  nod.  He  lope  bent  back  court.  Strange  partnership. 
Mixed  doubles.  During  Olympic  games  old  wars  truced.  Weave 
Zen  alliance.  Low  riders.  Gunsells.  Nazis.  Lonesters.  Gang- 
sters. On  each  shoulder  blade  Manuel  has  two  foot  tattoo  of 
naked  woman  pubic  furry  and  on  rippling  bleep  grim  graffiti: 
DONT  TRUST  WOMEN. 

Little  said  but  they  dig  my  being  with  them.  Everybody 
yearns  for  the  old  days  of  philosopher  kings. 


108 


May  8     70     Chino 


Once  on  doing  time  in  Orange  County  Jail  a  short  merry 
boy  appeal  that  eye  write  a  Psychedelic  Prayer  for  him. 

Forgot. 

Here  at  Chino  herd  tells  of  fierce  low  rider  Allegro  beat  up 
weeklies  punking  gentles  coming  up  from  Orange. 

Today  on  yard  Willie  Madden  drive  up  to  me  with  new  pen 
pal.  Sweet  young  boy  Where's  that  Psychedelic  Prayer  you 
promised  me?  What's  you  name?  Allegro. 

Ask  Willie  play  handball.  He  smile  away.  You  might  beat  me 
and  that  ruin  my  reputation  as  gunsell.  Hey  man,  why  you  put 
your  arm  around  that  nigger?  He  leader  of  our  enemy. 

Oh  man,  you  got  your  hate  list,  right.  I  get  in  trouble  with 
you  if  I  go  around  loving  people  on  your  hate  list.  You  gimme 
your  hate  list  so  I  know  who  I'm  supposed  to  hate.  And  I  give 
you  a  love  list. 

Willie  laugh  he  lighted.  Your  too  much. 

Rarely  men-shunned  except  by  trustees  con-fided:  Pin 
Cushion  Jones.  Dread  enigma. 

Who  is  Pin  Cushion  Jones? 

Wise  Ho  Toy  round  flesh  mountain  of  smilewise  leans  back 
shaking  head. 

Twenty-three  years  old.  First  came  carrying  murder.  Straight 
life.  Ingenius  in  many  ways.  When  you  come  in  here  to  Palm 
Hall  they  give  you  a  sin  search.  Not  like  the  one  you  got, 
superficial.  I  mean  really  skinpection.  Put  him  in  special  isola- 
tion. No  other  possibly  come  near.  Second  night  he  calls  guard 
over;  hands  him  two  section  bars  sawed  off  cell  and  hack  saw. 
Says,  you  seems  like  eager  beaver  I'll  let  you  be  the  hero.  How 
did  he  get  saw  in  cell?  And  how  see  saw  two  bars?  You  know 
try  cut  steel  with  hack  saw  with  handle.  Hard  work.  And  he 
with  naked  blade.  Wet  towels  to  muffle  sound. 

Custody  went  crazy  trying  to  figure  that  one  out. 

Next  week  he  is  in  office  talking  with  lawyer  in  front  of  guard. 
Reaches  in  his  sleeve  and  pulls  out  a  T\NO  FOOT  LONG  knife. 
Hands  it  to  lawyer. 

Why? 


109 


To  keep  his  mind  occupied. 

Next  week  in  cell  just  above  his  a  white  racist  killed  a  Black 
Panther  with  exactly  the  same  kind  of  knife.  How?  Where? 

They  call  him  Pin  Cushion? 

He  has  fifty-seven  knife  wounds  in  his  body.  When  they  move 
him  they  fly  him  private  airplane  guard.  Can't  let  him  on  regu- 
lar bus.  The  other  cons  would  kill  him. 

Three  months  ago  he  was  in  six-man  cell  in  County  jail.  Bet 
one  cell  mate  he  could  tie  his  hands  with  handkerchief  to  last 
five  minutes.  Bet  three  packages  of  cigarettes.  Cell  mate 
greedy  for  cigarette.  No  way  handkerchief  could  hold  him  five 
minutes.  Place  six  packages  of  cigarettes  on  table  and  Jones 
tie  with  handkerchief.  Then  hit  him  over  head  with  chair. 
Stabbed  him  to  death.  Then  pull  his  pants  down  and  fuck 
him.  Right  in  front  of  four  other  cell  mates. 

Why  didn't  they  do  something? 

Scared.  Pin  Cushion  Jones?  He's  killed  lot  a  folk.  He's 
clever  though. 

When  we  heard  that  we  were  ashamed,  and  restrained  our  tears;  and  he 
walked  about  until,  as  he  said,  his  legs  began  to  fail,  and  then  he  lay  on 
his  back,  according  to  the  direction,  and  the  man  who  gave  him  the  poison 
now  and  then  looked  at  his  feet  and  legs;  and  after  a  while  he  pressed 
his  foot  hard  and  asked  him  if  he  could  feel;  and  he  said  "No";  and  then 
his  leg,  and  so  upwards  and  upwards,  and  showed  us  that  he  was  cold 
and  still. 

"In  their  wild  state,  rats  are  natural  killers  ...  In  recent  experiments  at 
Princeton  University,  scientists  investigating  the  mechanisms  involved  in 
the  rat's  murderous  behavior  made  a  remarkable  discovery;  by  injecting 
drugs  into  the  rat's  brain,  they  can  turn  its  killer  instinct  on  or  off,  almost 
at  will. 

"Thus,  even  though  they  had  never  killed  before,  or  even  seen  a  killing, 
they  (pacifist  rats)  behaved  exactly  like  wild  rats  for  the  duration  of  the 
drug's  effectiveness. 

"If  such  violence  could  be  unleashed  chemically,  the  researchers  rea- 
soned it  might  also  be  chemically  contained.  Repeating  the  experiment 
with  known  killer  rats,  they  used  another  agent,  methylatropine,  which  has 
a  different  effect  on  the  neurons;  it  blocks  the  message  pathway.  As  ex- 
pected, the  killers  became  almost  instant  pacifists  .  .  . 

"The  Princeton  experimenters  emphasize  that  they  are  still  largely  ig- 
norant about  the  basic  biochemical  mechanisms  behind  the  rats'  behavior. 

".  .  .  If  the  killer  instinct  can  be  chemically  controlled  in  a  creature  as 
complex  as  the  rodent,  some  day  such  aggressiveness  may  well  be  tamed 
in  man.  Indeed,  among  those  who  are  apparently  interested  in  that  pos- 
sibility is  one  of  the  sponsors  of  the  Princeton  research:  the  U.S.  Arms 
Control  and  Disarmament  Agency."  — Time,  March  30,  1970. 

Our  Harvard  research  discovered  over  ten  years  ago  the 
existence  of  a  chemical  which,  If  eaten  before  meals  three 

110 


times  a  day,  will  not  only  enhance  the  appetite  but  cuts  down 
over  seventy-five  percent  of  man's  aggressiveness.  A  tiny  lump 
of  hashish. 

Proof  reading  admission  sheet.  Ghastly  role  call  crime  and 
time.  The  names  are  beautiful  finny  labels  swimming  up  from 
gene  pools  of  past.  Lots  of  Jesuses,  Alejandros,  Antonios. 
And  lots  of  Timothys.  Timo  fearer,  Theo  God.  God  fearers. 

But  the  numbers  are  cruel.  261   PC,  P  65432,  3-10. 

We  are  admission-listers  of  hell.  Bob  smiles.  You  have  to 
turn  off  meaning  of  job.  I'm  here  to  do  legal  work.  The  ad- 
mission list  is  my  ticket  for  freedom.  I  love  the  liberating  work 
here.  I  get  up  each  morning  and  run  to  the  office  like  a  gambler 
running  to  the  track.  Every  day  there's  hope  of  a  long  shot. 
Marconi's  appeal  from  the  Supreme  Court.  Waiting  for  Jones' 
reversal.  What  writ  hath  got  wrought  today. 

Look  at  this  commitment. 

WHITE,  Perry  Randolph 

Crime:  Rape  w/force  &  Sex  Perv  &  Crime  vs.  Nature  &  L  &  L  Con- 
duct &  Kidnap  &  Asit  w/l/T/C  Rape  All  CC 
Sentence:  3-Life  &  6mo-15  &  1-Llfe  &  1-25  &  1-20  All  CC 

What  a  busy  guy. 

He  owes  two  lives  and  sixty  years. 

Yeah.  I  remember  that  case.  All  different  victims.  And  they 
dropped  a  dozen  more.  Some  of  these  guys  are  animals. 

Think  about  this  &  return  to  say.  I  don't  think  animals  is 
the  right  term.  Animals  can't  commit  a  crime  against  nature. 
There's  no  perversion  in  nature.  Except  for  the  caged  im- 
prisoned apes  of  Sir  Solly  Zuckerman  in  the  London  Zoo.  Wild 
animals  are  pure  kings  of  nature.  The  descriptive  adjective  for 
unnatural  is  not  animal,  it's  human. 

Yeah.  It's  a  narrow  and  wrong  point  of  view.  Like  turtles  talk- 
ing about  people-necked  sweaters. 

Night  calls  to  Friday  movie.  Five  hundred  caged  men  in  gym 
sit  on  folding  chairs.  Musak  play  Lawrence  Welk.  Lights  dim. 
Movie  dim  scratchy.  Before  lights  dim  hear  name  called.  Jon 
callmg  me.  Pointing.  Go  over.  See  old  friend  just  returned  from 
court.  Bad  news  see  him  means  he  loses  p^obation  re-turn  for 
prison.  Hello  Perry.  King,  young  gentleman  handball  partner 
erudite  brother. 

Sorry  to  see  you  back  brother.  He  nods  and  friendly. 

Later— remember.  Perry.  He  said  he  was  violated  on  an  old 
rape.  Gentle  dignified  Perry. 

Next  day  tell  Bob.  Perry  is  one  of  the  finest  men  in  the 
jomt.  Oh  the  dark,  ancient  mystery  of  sex.  All  politics  is  faggot 
hassle.  Without  her  we  are  lost  erratic  electrons. 

111 


May  9     70     Chino 


There  dwells  a  man  named  Seymour  in  cell  672  who  looks 
like  Jewish  stockbroker  with  dark  glasses.  At  all  times  of  day 
and  night  he  makes  "Quack  Quack"  like  Donald  Duck.  Busy, 
smiling,  wiry,  Quack  Quack.  A  practical  broker.  Short  sheeter 
he  put  pudding  in  your  picket.  Quack  Quack. 

Yesterday  sitting  in  busy  Release  and  Receiving  office.  Has 
box  in  lap.  Calls  guard  over.  Hey  see  what  I  have  in  box.  Lift  top 
up  little  guard  bend  down  peer  in  shadowy  dim.  Hath  cut  hole 
in  box  and  put  his  penis  in. 

Cock  box.  Quack.  Quack. 

And  then  Socrates  felt  them  himself,  and  said:  "When  the  poison  reaches 
the  heart,  that  will  be  the  end."  He  was  beginning  to  grow  cold  around 
the  groin,  when  he  uncovered  his  face  (for  he  had  covered  himself  up)  and 
said  (they  were  his  last  words):  "Crito,  I  owe  a  cock  to  Asclepius;  will  you 
remember  to  pay  the  debt?"  "The  debt  shall  be  paid,"  said  Crito.  "Is  there 
anything  else?" 

YOUR  LETTER  IS  RETURNED  FOR  THE  REASON(s) 
CHECKED  BELOW:  NOTIFY  THIS  PARTY  TO  PLACE  THEIR 
NAME,  RETURN  ADDRESS.  AND  REASONS  FOR  REMAIN- 
ING  AT   LIBERTY  ON    FURTHER   CORRESPONDENCE 


112 


May  11     70     Chino 


Monday  morning  bright  snappy  office  cheer.  New  week.  Got 
through  another  weak-end.  Friday  night  a  worst. 

Visit  nestdoor  neighbor  coffee  pot.  Watch  him  tear  off  three 
read  numbers.  Saturday.  Sunday.  Monday.  Right  on.  Off  the 
week,  brother. 

Gentleman  Jim  breezy  in.  Matudinal  blessing  and  springtime 
salutations,  comrades.  May  the  sun  shine  in. 

Don  nod  slowly.  Somethings  good  happen  this  week. 

Mid  morning  we  make  arrangements  for  writing.  Under- 
ground agents  plan  a  code.  Outside  mail  drops.  Reunion  plans. 
After  liberation. 

Sensor  tension  building.  Barometric  pressure  building.  Some- 
thing soon  to  happen. 

Justice  Douglas  orders  bail?  Fifth  Circuit  cuts  you  loose? 
UFO  arrives? 

Late  afternoon  R  &  R  clerk  lean  in  door.  Well  you're  going 
Tim.  Waves  memeograph  sheet.  You're  shipping  out  to  CMC 
West.  Hit  it  lucky. 

CMC  West.  Old  man  home.  Limber  dick  gulch.  Country  club. 
Leave  for  unit.  Look  up  former  western. 

Face  light  up.  You  lucky.  CMC  West  best  joint  In  state. 
Country  club.  No  lock  up.  Just  at  bunk  three  counts  a  day. 
Swimming  pool.  Golf  course.  Bowling  alley.  Nice  people.  All 
old  cons  live  quietly.  No  young  gunsells  burning  sheets.  Picnic 
visits  on  yard.  Visitors  buy  lunch  at  commissary  for  you.  Lots 
of  cons  love  it  so  much,  hate  to  leave.  When  paroled  get 
violated  so  can  come  back.  Private  radios.  No  smog.  Near 
ocean.  Near  Hearst's  castle.  You  can  plant  your  own  garden. 
Some  oldsters  get  tetchy.  So  institutionalized  schedule.  Shave 
now.  Walk  here.  Eat  there.  Crotchedly  is  g6t  in  way.  No  prob- 
lem. 

I  smile  thinking  contact  visits  with  Rosemary.  Contact.  Con- 
spire breath.  Contact.  Change.  Adventure.  New  scene. 

Old  cons  shake  hand.  You'll  like  it.  No  young  kids  there. 

Young  cons  shakes  hand.  You  have  good  time  there.  There 
are  some  kids  there  play  handball  get  high  with.  You  be  young 
gunsell  there.  Tell  them,  move  you  wheelchair  old  man  or  I 
punk  you  good. 

113 


Collect  personal  gear  to  ship  out.  Two  ball  point  pens. 
Shower  shoes.  Two  packages  rolling  tobacco.  Travel  light, 
travel  far. 

Name 

Box  No. 

Date  19 

Tim 

I'm  writing  just  a  few  lines  to  you  because  it  Is  easier  to  put  on 
paper  than  to  tell  you.  If  you  know  what  I  mean. 

Meeting  you  has  changed  my  life  and  in  so  many  ways.  You've 
opened  my  eyes  and  I  am  very  grateful  for  that.  In  my  heart  we've 
grown  to  be  greatest  of  friends.  I  will  miss  you  very  much.  You've 
made  my  stay  here  very  happy.  You  were  always  around  when  I 
was  down,  you  kept  me  happy  when  I  didn't  think  I  was  going 
to  be  happy.  Tim  I'll  never  forget  you.  I'll  always  hold  a  place 
in  my  heart  and  prayers  for  you.  I  pray  to  god  everynite  so  things 
will  work  out  fine  and  I  know  god  will  take  care  of  you. 

Tim  I  love  you  like  a  brother  and  in  my  heart  you'll  always  be 
just  that.  I  can  only  wait  for  the  day  that  we  meet  again  but 
under  different  curcumstances.  Every  body  is  behind  you  and  I 
know  you'll  come  out  on  top.  So  best  of  luck  and  may  god  bless 
you  always 

Love  your  friend 

Jon 


May  11,   1970  (Monday) 
Tim, 

This  evening,  just  before  dinner,  i  learned  you  will  be  trans- 
ferred to  C.M.C.  West  this  coming  Wednesday.  I  feel  very  down. 
What  can  I  say  to  comfort  you,  and  to  really  show  you  how  "we" 
feel?  I  can  only  imagine  how  you  feel  now;  and  I'm  sure  my 
imagination  can  capture  only  a  small  measure  of  all  that  you 
actually  feel.  If  i  could  do  your  time,  or  go  thru  the  hassels  for 
you,  and  "they"  would  let  you  be,  and  release  you,  I  would  gladly 
take  your  time.  But,  of  course,  I  can  only  wish  I  could  take  your 
time;  yet  I  do.  You  have  given  so  much  to  so  many — you  belong 
where  you  are  needed,  as  well  as  loved  most;  outside,  with  your 
family  and  all  your  "brothers  and  sisters."  Please  don't  ever  give 
up — keep  the  faith — yow  know  you'll  never  be  alone  as  "we"  are 
always  with  you,  and  "we"  are  not  just  Freddy,  Dommino,  and 
Gary — "we"  are  all  the  hundreds  of  thousands  everywhere  who 
look  to  your  light  &  will  be  "with  you"  all  ways,  and  will  never 
allow  anyone  or  anything  to  restrict  your  natural  movements  for 
long.  "We"  love  you — you  know — "we"  need  you  and  want  you 
free,  in  every  respect  and  as  you  are!  All  my  friends  &  my  brother's 
friends  want  you  outside — I  mention  this  because  they  represent 
an  already  huge  and  growing  "spirit  of  love"  that  will  see  to  it 
that  your  unnecessary  imprisonment  is  ended,  so  you  can  be,  with 
everyone,  and  completely  your  self.  Always  remember,  it  won't 
be  long,  something  will  happen  to  help,  and  "we"  are  with  you. 
Personally,  I  will  be  rapping  with  my  brother  at  our  first  visit  and 


suggest  he  &  his  friends  start  getting  "heads  together"  on  my 
brother's  campus,  as  well  as  other  places  &  get  the  "Free  Tim 
Leary"  movement  on  the  media  and  speaking  clearly  for  all  to 
hear  and  showing  themselves  for  all  to  see.  Dommino  said  there 
is  a  concert  planned,  or  in  the  works,  to  raise  bread  for  "legal 
action" — obviously  many  of  your  good  brothers  &  sisters  will  be 
applying  pressure  until  someone  or  something  has  to  give  in,  with 
you,  and  you  will  come  out! 

I'll  miss  your  physical  presence — but  will  otherwise  be  "with 
you"  wherever  you  may  be — stay  well  &  take  good  care  of  your 
self. 

KEEP  SMILING  !  !  ! 

With  Love, 

your  brother 

Perry 
P.S. 

Where  did  I  read:  "All  things  pass"? 
Tim, 

"We"  will  help  this  to  pass — believe  me! 


115 


May  12     70     Chino 


Sad  sharing  moment  on  yard.  Good  byes.  Sitting  in  sun 
against  wall  half-naked  Benares  saddhus.  Heavenly  compan- 
ions orbiting  bye.  Jolly  Pisces.  Heavy  Leos.  (Leos  should  never 
be  in  prison.) 

Uncouth  squatting  against  sun.  His  deep  rhinoceros  eyes 
smile  welcome. 

What  job  did  you  have  on  the  outside? 

Oh,  I  din  have  no  job.  Just  putted  around. 

Putted? 

On  a  motor  scooter. 

Did  you  use  dope? 

Nods  sheepishly. 

Heroin? 

Surprised  hurt.  Naw. 

Grass. 

Oh  mainly  reds  and  wine. 

Reds  and  wine.  Reds  and  wine.  There  it  was  the  Hippo- 
cratic  Key  to  the  mystery  of  Uncouth. 

Psychopharmacological  diagnosis. 

When  we  left  galactic  center  they  told  us:  when  you  reach  a 
biologically  inhabited  planet  ask  two  religious  questions. 
Which  biochemicals  do  you  use?  What  is  your  attitude  toward 
the  male-female  relationship?  What  dope  is  your  sacrament? 
Do  you  worship  an  It,  a  He,  a  She,  or  a  Fused  Helical  Unity? 

Hippocrates  said  that  there  are  eight  humors,  liquids,  po- 
tions. Euphorics,  Erotics,  Phlegmatics,  Narcotics,  Melancholies, 
Emergenlcs,  Gholerics,  Energies. 

These  natural  juices  produce  psychomotor  states  known  to 
the  Asclepiadae  as:  Euphoria,  Aphrodisia,  Tranquilia,  Nar- 
cotica,  Melancholia,  Panic,  Choleria,  Energia. 

A  natural  healthy  flow  of  humor  allows  the  appropriate  juice 
to  mobilize  the  psychomotor  machinery  In  response  to  any 
stimulus.  Dis-ease  (or  sin,  if  you  prefer)  is  caused  by  inhibition, 
imbalance,  or  over-production  of  any  natural  juice.  In  this 
case  the  state  of  healthy  balance  is  recovered  by  administra- 
tion of  a  medicament-sacrament.  Hippocrates  lists  the  eight 


116 


generic  sacraments:  Cocaine.  Cannabis.  Hashish.  Opium.  B\\^ 
Neurotin.  Cholerin.  Amphetamine. 

A  footnote  in  the  Hippocratic  Collection  suggests  that  if  the 
reader  understands  the  preceding  three  paragraphs  then  the 
reader  has  penetrated  the  highest  secret  of  nature  and  ranks 
among  the  wisest  to  have  ever  lived. 

Reds  and  wine.  Melancholia,  Panic,  Choleria. 

The  familiar  comforting  rituals  of  daily  life.  Coffee  from  hot 
tap  water  at  sunrise.  Hot  shower  before  evening  count.  The 
newspaper  smuggled  up  to  be  read  between  outcount  and 
nightcount. 

HIPPOCRATES  OF  COS,  MWG,  68",  150  lbs  (est),  black  hair, 

brown  eyes,  DOB  460  B.C. 

Informants  Soranus  &  Plato  report  subject  member  of 
sect,  cult,  family,  guild,  society  called  Asclepios  (i.e.  Sons 
of  Aslceplos).  Although  little  is  known  of  the  rites,  duties, 
and  functions  of  these  Asclepiadae  they  are  known  to 
cultivate  narcotic,  euphoric,  and  aphrodisiac  plants  and 
to  experiment  both  on  their  own  bodies  and  on  others, 
using  illegal  potions.  According  to  the  Encyclopedia  Brl- 
tannica,  many  "highly  conjectural  statements  about  them 
have  become  common." 

Hippocrates  is  known  to  have  been  in  close  touch  with 
Leary,  who  considers  Hippocrates  to  be  his  teacher  and 
guide.  H.  is  rumored  to  have  passed  on  the  essence  of 
his  teaching  to  Leary. 

It  is  said  and  it  is  likely  that  H.  travelled  widely.  He  is 
said  to  have  died  at  Larissa,  at  an  age  given  variously, 
the  extremes  being  85  to  110. 

Hippocrates  is  probably  the  most  dangerous  and  socially 
disruptive  man  ever  to  have  lived.  His  principles  and  his 
techniques  with  potions,  if  become  widespread,  would 
totally  free  each  individual  from  state  control  and  make 
possible  complete  liberty  of  consciousness. 
As  his  disciple  and  direct  heir,  Leary  can  be  described  as 
the  most  dangerous  man  alive. 

Subject  left  his  notes  In  what  is  callect  by  Interpol,  The 
Hippocratic  Collection.  Among  fragments  are  the  following 
equations:  Sun-gold;  Moon-silver;  Venus-copper;  Mercury- 
mercury;  Mars-Iron;  Saturn-lead. 


117 


BODYGUARD 

ff  I  had  broken  three 
jailhouse  commandments 
. .  .what  happens  now  ?  ?>*> 


M' 


lY  CELLMATE  NOLAN  WRAPPING  UP  FIFTEEN  YEARS 
.  I  ON  THIS  STRETCH  .  .  .  LUCKY  BREAK  FOR  ME  TO 
HAVE  A  BODHISATTVA  ALONG  ...  OH  HE  WAS  A  LONG- 
TIMER  ALL  RIGHT  .  .  .  SPENT  A  HUNDRED  YEARS  OR 
MORE  IN  ALMOST  ANY  JAILPENITENTIARYREFORMATORY- 
JOINT  YOU  CAN  NAME  .  .  .  TALK  ABOUT  SOLITARY  CON- 
FINEMENT .  .  .  TALK  ABOUT  CHAINS  AND  SHACKLES  .  .  . 
TALK  ABOUT  CRIMEPUNISHMENTFREEDOMCONTROLPOLI- 
TICSREPRESSIONINFERNOPURGATORYSINREDEMPTION  .  . . 
AND  HE'D  LISTEN  WITH  A  SMILE  .  .  . 

—LOOK  NOLAN  .  .  .  GOODNEWS  .  .  .  JUST  GOT  A 
LETTER  FROM  PLAYBOY  MAGAZINE  .  .  .  THEY  WANT  TO 
PUBLISH  A  STORY  ABOUT  MY  FIRST  WEEK  IN  JAIL  .  .  . 
I  HAVE  IT  HERE  .  .  .  WILL  YOU  READ  IT. 

WRINKLEYES  SMILE  AT  MY  YOUTHFUL  PLEASURE  .  .  . 

—FIRST  WEEK   IN   JAIL   .   .   .   HMMM. 

LIES  DOWN  ON  CELLBUNK  .  .  .  BEGINS  TO  READ  MANU- 
SCRIPT .  .  . 

First  jailmeal  .  .  .  tintray  loaded  lumpystarch  .  .  .  tincup 
chlorinate  .  .  .  sitting  next  a  burly  lad  .  .  .  surlyhulk  .  .  .  thick 
lowbrow  blackhair  sweptback  lowrider  style  .  .  .  bigarms  tattoo 
carpet ... 

Eye  stare  pointblank  amaze  at  automobile  sklnshow  ... 
skyblue  nudegirl  .  .  .  disney  devil  pitchfork  orangered  .  .  . 
girlhead  etched  brunette  ...  her  hauntingeyes  met  bleep  crease 
where  bullseye  vein  for  accuracy  ...  the  number  8  .  .  .  coat 
of  arms  .  .  .  skull  rampant  over  crossed  spoon  and  needle  over 
motto  .  .  .  Junk  is  Fun. 

Illustrated  man  medevilgrin  .  .  .  flexarms  undulate  .  .  . 

—You  have  everything  there  except  Born  To  Lose. 

—That's  here  on  my  shoulder .  .  .  pullup  shortsleeve  shirt .  .  . 

— What  does  number  8  represent? 

—Oh  that  .  .  .  Heroin  .  .  .  eighth  letter  in  alphabet  ...  you 
dig  heroin? 

— Thirteen  .  .  ,  you  like  heroin? 

— I  love  heroin  .  .  .  its  me  .  .  . 

Want  to  here  more  but  bull  flick  finger  rismg  us  to  garbage 
cans. 

After  lunch  P.A.  blare  .  .  .  ATTENTION  .  .  .  LEARY  B-3 
ROLL  UP  YOUR  GEAR  ...  HIT  THE  BEACH  ... 

Orange  County  Jail  call  runway  front  of  cells  "The  Beach" 
...  Los  Angeles  County  Jail  call  It  "Freeway." 

Rolling  plastic-covered  mattress  around  blanket  sheets 
guys  clusteround  .  .  .  groovy  brother  you're  balled  out  .  .  . 

119 


Happy  float  to  tierend  .  .  .  barred  gate  click  pass  out  module 
.  .  .  invisible  loudspeaker  .  .  .  YOU  LEARY  .  .  .  PROCEED  TO 
D  TANK  .  .  . 

Invisible  eye  watch  fixed  robot  .  .  . 

WALK  10  FEET  AND  TURN  RIGHT  .  .  .  THAT'S  D  TANK  .  .  . 

Metal  gate  .  .  .  lock  click  ...  in  tier  of  single  cells  .  .  . 

PUT  YOUR  GEAR  IN  D-3 

Third  cell  empty  .  .  .  metal  bed  .  .  .  metal  table  .  .  .  metal 
toilet .  .  .  metal  washbowl  .  .  .  throw  mattress  on  bed  .  .  .  invis- 
ible eye  speak  .  .  . 

YOU  HAVE  YOUR  CHOICE  OF  CELL  LOCKUP  OR  DAY 
ROOM 

Out  to  beach  .  .  .  cell  rumbleshut  .  .  .  walk  to  dayroom  .  .  . 
tenmen  sit  round  metal  table  watching  T.V.  .  .  .  looklaugh  .  .  . 
— Well  Brother  Timothy,  what  you  doing  here? 

— I  don't  know  .  .  .  they  just  rolled  me  up  from  the  next 
tank  ... 

— You  know  what  this  is  .  .  .  secret  clubsmile  .  .  .  we're  all 
murderers  .  .  .  you've  made  the  elite  .  .  .  this  is  highpower  .  .  . 
welcome  to  deathrow  .  .  . 

Start  prisoner  meeting  ritual  .  .  .  whocase  .  .  .  whycase  .  .  . 
whatcase  .  .  .  whencase  .  .  .  wherecase  .  .  .  Loudspeaker: 

LEARY  .  .  .  ROLL  UP  YOUR  GEAR  .  .  . 

Unseen  lightdial  switch  hand  open  cell  .  .  .  click  tierlock  .  .  . 
metal  voice  direct  downhall  to  singlecell  tier  .  .  . 

Here  dayroom  lessdlgnity  .  .  .  youth  effusion  .  .  . 

This  is  N  tank  .  .  .  protective  custody  for  badactors  .  .  .  non- 
cooperators  .  .  .  snitches  .  .  .  political  prisoners  .  .  .  messianic 
acidheads  .  .  .  single  cell  lockup  ...  we  used  to  have  child- 
molesters  .  .  .  babyrapers  .  .  .  motherfuckers  .  .  .  otra  assorted 
sexbeefs  moved  next  door  ... 

Here  was  Tom  Lynn  .  . .  twenty,  blond,  funny,  charming,  weak 
.  .  .  Aries  .  .  .  sit  together  meals  entertaintaies  Vietnam  mari- 
juana .  .  .  Tokyo  opium  .  .  .  acid  love  ceremonies  in  Army 
hospital  mixed  ward  .  .  .  hashish  concubines  in  Bangkok  .  .  . 
methedrine  manias  .  .  .  shooting  heroin  in  lady's  room  of  filling 
station  where  he  worked  .  .  . 

At  night  stand  outside  my  cell  .  .  .  leanon  broom  .  .  .  pretend 
sweeping  .  .  .  babble  hiptales  .  .  .  bull  bellow  him  .  .  .  celldoor 
clang  .  .  .  silence  fall  on  tier .  .  .  then  eerie  murder  voice  come 
singing  through  ventilators  from  neighboring  tier  .  .  . 

— Fuck  you  bastard  Lynn  ...  get  ready  to  die  .  .  .  your  days 
are  numbered  .  .  . 

Tom  Lynn  never  mention  night  doomvoice  and  I  forget  .  .  . 
When  once  ask  cheerful  fact  twist  into  long  explanation. 


120 


He  carries  heavy  lead  shroud  jacket  of  snitch  .  .  .  protective 
custody  .  .  .  watch  out  for  knife  in  back  ... 

Once  upon  a  crime  was  badguy  Willie  Madden  harmrobber 
lowrider  smash  down  candy-store  counter  owners  scream  .  .  . 
help  .  .  .  robber  .  .  .  gun  smash  crashregister  .  .  .  standback 
or  I  blow  your  fucking  brains  out  .  .  .  Tom  and  Willie  shoot 
heroin  together  ...  oh  so  Willy  bullyboy  caged  here  .  .  . 
vicious  hater  .  .  .  now  takes  three  life-tops  to  prison  .  .  .  mean 
.  .  .  mean  .  .  .  mean  .  .  .  beat  wife  .  .  .  beat  oldlady  storeowner 
.  .  .  beat  me  .  .  .  gets  kicks  from  startle  face  of  victims  .  .  .  ass- 
hole raping  weak  prisoners  .  .  .  rape  longhairs  .  .  .  bleeding 
anus  .  .  .  blood  .  .  .  blood  .  .  .  has  to  blame  someone  for 
troubles.  .  .  blame  sweet  Tom  .  .  .  meanman  Willie  recruit  gang 
of  murder  friends  to  kill  me  .  .  .  during  trial  policeman  testify 
I  helpful  DA  many  telltales  ...  not  true  ...  not  true  .  .  . 

I  listen  lotus  pose  on  jailbunk  .  .  .  Tom  sit  on  toilet  .  .  . 
standard  jailhouse  etiquette  .  .  . 

Bad  vibrations  .  .  .  coldark  prisoncrime  mist  seep  in  air  .  .  . 
whew  .  .  .  turn  that  TV  off  ...  I  never  like  crimedramahorror- 
suspense  movies  .  .  .  never  .  .  . 

—Can't  you  explain  to  Willie  that  you  didn't  snitch  .  .  .  testify 
that  cop  was  lying  ...  get  him  new  trial  .  .  . 

— He  won't  listen  to  me  .  .  .  when  he  sees  me  in  mess  hall 
whispers  kill  .  .  .  kill  .  .  .  kill  ...  I  have  lots  of  friends  in  K  and 
L  tanks  who  believe  me  .  .  .  but  here  in  protective  custody 
snitch  jacket  really  comes  down  on  me    .  . 

I  promise  to  ask  Rosemary  get  message  to  his  lawyer  but 
visit  so  short  ...  I  forget  .  .  .  feel  bad  .  .  .  his  life  at  stake  .  .  . 

NOLAN  SITS  UP  ON  BUNK  SUDDENLY  .  .  .  PUTS  DOWN 
MANUSCRIPT  .  .  .  SHAKES  HEAD  .  .  . 

—WRITE  DOWN  YOU  COMMENTS  .  .  .  MARK  THE  PLACES 
...  HE  FROWNS  NODS  AND  TAKES  PENCIL  .  .  .  LIES  BACK 
DOWN  WITH  MANUSCRIPT  ... 

Later  day  .  .  .  court  call  .  .  .  fifty  men  crowd  small  basement 
holdmgcell  .  .  .  change  jail  wraps  for  street  clothes  .  .  .  cattle 
penned  together  on  floor  suffocate  smell  of  sweat  feet  for  hour 
before  court  bus  come  .  .  . 

Talking  to  old  hard  cons  and  younghard  gunsells  .  .  .  Tribal 
swagger  chief  stuff  .  .  . 

They  begin  denouncing  young  beardless  touslehair  Tom 
clenchfist  .  .  .  Snitch  has  to  die  ...  I  defend  him  .  .  .  they  run- 
down list  of  indictments  ... 

NOLAN  SITS  UP  AGAIN  .  .  .  PUTS  MANUSCRIPT  DOWN 
121 


.  .  .  GETS  UP  .  .  .  WALKS  TO  LOCKER  FOR  CIGARETTE  .  .  . 

—I  CANT  READ  THIS  .  .  . 

WHY  .  .  .  PLAYBOY  EDITORS  LIKE  IT  .  .  . 

—ITS  NO  GOOD  .  .  .  YOU  WOULDN'T  WRITE  THAT  NOW  .  .  . 

SOON  AS  SAID  I  SEE  .  .  .  NODHEAD  LAUGHING  .  .  . 

—YES  .  .  .  PLAYBOY  SAW  FLAW  TOO.  ...  HE  ASKED  ME 
TO  ADD  MY  IMPRESSIONS  ABOUT  PRISON  ...  MY  OWN 
REACTIONS  .  .  . 

—ANYTHING  YOU  WRITE  NOW  WILL  BE  HONEST  AND 
TRUE  .  .  .  YOU  COULDN'T  LET  THIS  BE  PUBLISHED  UNDER 
YOUR  NAME  .  .  .  UNLESS  YOU  BADLY  NEED  THE  MONEY 
.  .  .  DEFENDING  A  SNITCH  .  .  .  REALLY  .  .  . 

—WELL  .  .  .  FINISH  READING  IT  .  .  .  MAKE  MARKS  IN  THE 
MARGIN  WHERE  IT  GRABS  YOU  WRONG  .  .  .  THEN  WE  TALK 
ABOUT  IT  .  .  . 

QUICK  GLANCE  .  .  .  IMPERCEPTIBLE  SHRUG  .  .  .  LIES 
BACK  DOWN  TO  READ  ... 

Back  in  tank  that  night  I  tell  Tom  .  .  .  hear  explain  .  .  .  bad 
vibrations  .  .  .  deadly  passions  cramped  in  small  metalcages 
of  countyjail  .  .  . 

But  I  was  a  twoperson  Rosemarytimothy  soul  inside  a  one 
person  cell  inside  a  sevenman  sorrowful  tier  (including  the 
fearful  Tom)  inside  a  tank,  inside  a  fiftyman  module  (including 
Willie  Madden  and  his  gang)  and  love  was  the  only  way  out 
and  here  was  a  fellowhumanbeing  trapped  in  hell  of  unbeliev- 
able wickeddanger  ... 

Poor  Tomlife  .  .  .  alcoholic  stepfather  beathim  beathim 
beathim  .  .  .  bloody  child  .  .  .  unhappy  .  .  .  younger  brother 
prison  doperap  .  .  .  they  say  Tom  gave  him  up  too  .  .  .  Orange- 
country  naughtyboy  pumpgas  and  heroin  .  .  lurchout  with 
bleeding  arm  to  fuel  cars  .  .  .  speedwired  .  .  .  stupidrunk  on 
reds  .  .  .  badboygunman  .  .  .  weak  gasfumedowndope  bluffing 
kidtrip  .  .  . 

NOLAN  SITS  UP  AGAIN  .  .  .  SHAKING  HEAD  .  .  .  IT'S  JUST 
A  FAKE  STORY  .  .  .  THIS  KID  ISN'T  A  TRUE  DOPEFIEND 
AND  HE'S  NOT  A  DECENT  ARMED  ROBBER  .  .  .  YOU  KNOW 
TOO  MUCH  NOW  TO  WRITE  SUCH  A  THING  .  .  . 

—RIGHT  ON  .  .  .  READ  ON  .  .  . 

NOLAN  LIES  BACK  AND  CONTINUES  READING  .  .  . 

Next  week  we  both  had  court  appearances  but  4:00  am 
speaker  which  called  me  didn't  summon  Tom  .  .  . 

In  dressing  tank  rapping  with  Blank  Panthers  about  Chicago 
trial,  Bill  Kunstler,  Mike  Kennedy  ...  In  cornercrowd  darkbrow 
tattooed  man  smile  and  wave  over  .  .  .  talking  about  Tom  .  .  . 

122 


tattoos  eager  persuade  me  Tom  guiltysnitchdoom  .  .  .  snitches 
must  die  .  .  . 

— Isn't  he  being  made  fallguy  .  .  .  didn't  Willie  Madden's 
father  and  friend  give  him  up? 

My  question  puzzleface  tattoo  .  .  . 

— Hey  ...  I'm  Willie  Madden  .  .  . 

Lookstartle  laugh  .  .  . 

— You  gonna  get  sentenced  today? 

I  nod  ... 

— That's  good  ...  me  too  .  .  .  we'll  go  up  to  prison  together 
on  the  Chino  chain.  You  can  hang  out  with  us  .  .  .  you  need 
to  run  with  gang  in  joint  .  .  .  we'll  protect  you  .  .  .  naw  ...  not 
necessary  .  .  .  you  got  thousand  kids  in  prison  destroy  anyone 
who  lay  a  hand  on  you  .  .  . 

— What?  psychedelic  dopers  aren't  violent  .  .  . 

— Wait  until  you  see  some  of  those  speed  freaks  and  redded- 
out  dudes  .  .  . 

Willie  gang  cluster  round  prospecting  Chino  .  .  .  we'll  get 
him  one  of  those  nice  young  bitches  to  fuck  .  .  .  what  was 
name  of  that  velvet-assed  kid  I  was  turning  out  .  .  . 

Willie  grintwist  .  .  .  pick  a  weakid  .  .  .  tellhim  bendover  .  .  . 
if  he  don't  .  .  .  fire  on  him  .  .  .  smash  .  .  .  bloodrun  .  .  .  knock- 
hlm  down  .  .  .  kick  him  ...  OK  punk  .  .  .  you  ready  now  .  .  . 
take  your  fist  .  .  .  see  .  .  .  push  it  against  his  face  ...  OK  little 
softpunk  .  .  .  your  tender  velvet  ass  ready  now?  .  .  .  pull  his 
pants  down  ...  rip  ...  rub  some  soap  on  .  .  .  punch  him  good 
if  he  struggles  .  .  .  then  punk  him  good  .  .  .  hear  him  scream 
.  .  .  after  that  he's  your  eager  bitch  .  .  .  runs  for  you  .  .  .  when 
he  sees  you  coming  he's  ready  .  .  .  wicked  grin  .  .  .  crooked 
teeth  .  .  .  friendly  smiling  .  .  . 

Sudden  bull  at  gate  .  .  .  Lynn  ...  Is  Thomas  Lynn  in  there? 
Electric  silence  .  .  . 

—They  didn't  call  him  down  from  N  tank  .  .  . 

—Well  he  should  be  here  .  .  .  he's  on  the  list  for  court  .  .  . 

Bull  trampleoff  to  bring  Lynn  .  .  . 

Tension  .  .  . 

Corny  melodrama  B  movie  .  .  . 

Suspense  ...  * 

Longlong  horror  sequence  soon  to  climax? 

No  one  talking  much  .  .  .  waiting  .  .  .  standing  next  to  Willie 
.  .  .  gang  surrounds  .  .  . 

Then  bull  unlocking  barred  gate  .  .  .  Tom  Lynn  in  at  recep- 
tion  committee  .  .  .  miserable  .  .  .  hesitant  .  .  .  gate  slide  open 
.  .  .  Tom  waits  .  .  .  waits  .  .  .  waits  .  .  .  waits  .  .  .  walks  one 
pace  forward  .  .  .  gate  brush  back  clangshut  behind  him  .  .  . 

Still  standing  next  to  Willie  .  .  .  facing  Tom  .  .  .  askinglook  .  .  . 

123 


Defend?  .  .  .  defriend?  .  .  .  Libra  scales  balance  .  .  .  snitch 
Tom?  .  .  .  mean  Willie?  .  .  .  back  a  snitch  .  .  .  catch  ajacket 
.  .  .  snitchfriend.  inlaw  .  .  .  outlaw  .  .  .  ? 

Tom  stands  hands  by  side  .  .  .  eyes  down  .  .  .  helpless  .  .  . 

I  leave  Willie  walk  to  Tom  ...  he  saw  all  .  .  .  tautface  relax 
.  .  .  protection  ...  I  joke  him  .  .  .  back  to  Willie  .  .  .  call  comes 
to  board  bus  .  .  . 

I  let  Tom  enter  first  .  .  double  seats  all  gone?  .  .  .  gladly  sit 
single  seat  up  front  .  .  .  thanks  to  be  alone  .  .  .  Willie  and  gang 
file  past  .  .  .  glance  back  Tom  sit  alone  .  .  .  pariah  ...  un- 
touchable ...  I  walk  back  to  his  seat  .  .  .  turn  to  continue  rap 
with  Black  Panthers  .  .  .  bus  basement  courthouse  .  .  .  Superior 
Court  defendants  locked  in  large  holdingroom  .  .  .  benches 
round  sides  .  .  .  bench  in  middle. 

Tom  and  I  sit  together  in  middle  .  .  .  Willie  and  gang  sit 
behind  us  .  .  .  silence  .  .  . 

I  walk  to  Willie  .  .  .  Murder  tension  building  .  .  .  Venusguided 
Libran  cool  it  out  .  .  . 

Joke  with  Willie  .  .  .  return  to  Tom  .  .  . 

A  few  minutes  later  it  struck  .  .  .  blurred  movement  in  air 
.  .  .  sickening  noise  of  flesh  crunch  .  .  .  Tom's  face  blood 
drenched  .  .  .  dazed  .  .  .  stand  arms  at  side  ...  his  glasses 
smashed  on  floor  .  .  .  can't  see  .  .  .  Willie  dancing  .  .  .  fists 
moving  in  attack  ... 

Danger  .  .  .  warnflash  .  .  .  stoodup  moving  between  ... 

Triangle  transfixed  .  .  .  Tom  swaying  .  .  .  Willie  trembling 
.  .  .  Libra  balancing  .  .  . 

I  called  out  in  forceful  command  from  some  past  West  Point 
memory  tape  .  .  .  GUARD! 

As  bull  approached  gave  him  peremptory  order  .  .  .  "Guard, 
take  this  man  out  of  here  .  .  .  he's  sick  .  .  ."  The  guard  almost 
saluted  .  .  . 

NOLAN  PUT  MANUSCRIPT  DOWN  .  .  .  SHAKING  HEAD  .  .  . 
—THIS  REALLY  IS  TERRIBLE  .  .  .  YOU  JUST  CAN'T  LET 
THIS  BE  PRINTED  .  .  . 

— VES.  I  KNOW  .  .  .  BUT  READ  IT  THROUGH  ANYWAY  .  .  . 

Tom  led  out  ...  I  turned  to  face  muttering  wave  of  dis- 
approval .  .  . 

— Man,  mind  your  own  business  .  .  . 

— Motherfucking  snitch  .  .  . 

Sat  down  shookup  ...  I  had  broken  three  jailhouse  com- 
mandments .  .  .  not  minded  my  own  business  .  .  .  protected 
snitch  .  .  .  called  The  Man  .  .  .  what  happens  now? 

Long  time  silence  broken  .  .  .  Black  Panthers  wave  to  join 
them  .  .  .  tribal  gesture  .  .  . 

124 


— Hey  man  .  .  .  what's  the  baddest  acid? 

— Baddest? 

— Yeah  .  .  .  baddest  .  .  .  you  know  ...  the  best  .  .  . 

After  a  while  I  walk  over  to  Willie  .  .  .  squat  in  front  of  him 
...  He  wiredup  .  .  .  legs  jumping  up  and  down  .  .  . 

Look  him  in  eye  .  .  . 

— Willie  ...  I'm  not  a  judge  ...  I  don't  judge  anyone  here 
...  I  believe  in  non-violence  .  .  .  that's  my  thing  ...  all  the 
judges  are  upstairs  ...  I  want  us  all  to  be  free  .  .  .  violence 
threatens  freedom. 

Tribal  code  .  .  .  that's  how  it  is  .  .  .  message  received? 

Willie  talk  fast  .  .  . 

— Man,  you  should  never  have  done  that  .  .  .  when  you  came 
up  I  almost  fired  on  you  ...  out  of  instinct  .  .  .  you  can  get 
hurt  that  way  ...  I  gotta  kill  a  snitch  .  .  .  that's  our  way  .  .  . 
that's  our  thing,  man  .  .  . 

Willie  talking  passion  .  .  .  repressed  energy  tremble  strong 
body  .  .  . 

Just  then  bull  take  me  to  court  .  .  . 

Sentencing  takes  a  long  time  .  .  .  cold  anger  of  judge  dis- 
tracts me  .  .  .  blackrobe  judge  abandons  constitution  by  refus- 
ing me  bail  .  .  .  holding  me  captive  while  guilt  undecided  .  .  . 
provoking  violence  .  .  .  calling  bailiffs  guns  and  clubs  to  lead 
me  away  .  .  .  inflicting  pain  in  defense  of  his  fears  .  .  . 

I  kiss  weeping  Rosemary  au  revoir  .  .  .  lead  me  down  to 
courthouse  basement . . .  last  prisoner  to  reach  holding  tank  . . . 

Prisoners  cluster  around  sad  story  .  .  .  cigarettes  .  .  .  sym- 
pathy .  .  . 

Back  in  jail  dressing  room  Willie  talking  down  Tom  .  .  . 

— He's  a  weak,  sniveling  punk,  man.  A  born  snitch.  I  should 
have  known  better,  man.  He  caused  me  trouble  before.  We  had 
this  place  near  Palm  Springs,  see.  We  never  pulled  any  job 
out  of  it,  man.  Just  used  it  as  a  hideout.  We  had  it  loaded 
with  guns  and  heroin.  One  weekend  there  was  this  underaged 
chick  that  the  heat  was  looking  for,  and  they  came  to  the 
door,  and  the  house  was  loaded,  man,  and  we  wouldn't  let 
them  in.  They  were  looking  for  this  chick,  and  we  said  get  a 
warrant,  and  they  said  they'd  be  back.  So  the  other  guys 
covered  the  side  doors,  man,  and  I  got  a  shotgun  and  two 
pistols  and  waited  in  a  room  at  the  end  of  the  front  hallway, 
and  I  told  my  old  lady  to  answer  the  door,  man,  but  when 
the  cops  came  the  chick  went  to  the  door  and  gave  herself 
up.  And  she  got  busted,  and  our  place  was  hot,  man,  and  we 
kept  asking  who  knew  the  address  here  and  the  only  one  was 
Tom  Lynn. 

— So  we  piled  the  guns  in  the  car,  man,  and  drove  back  and 

125 


I  was  in  the  kitchen,  man,  and  someone  said,  "Tom  Lynn  is 
in  the  living  room."  And  I  went  in  and  he  said,  "What's  hap- 
pening, Willie,  I  want  to  talk  to  you."  And  I  said  did  you  give 
the  heat  our  address  and  he  said,  "Yes,  I  did  it  for  your  own 
good."  And  I  started  to  come  up  to  him,  man,  and  he  was 
backing  away  holding  his  hands  up  in  the  air  like  this  and 
saying,  "Now,  wait  a  minute,  Willie."  Lennie  kept  saying,  "Kill 
the  Motherfucking  snitch,"  and  my  old  lady  was  redded  out 
and  said,  "Blow  the  dude  away!"  So  he  backed  right  out  the 
front  door,  man,  and  I  fired  on  him  and  he  fell  off  the  second 
story  porch  and  ran  away  .  .  . 

— He's  a  terrible  liar  and  a  weak  slob,  man.  He'd  never 
make  an  armed  robber  in  a  thousand  years.  He's  a  coward, 
man.  He  made  one  of  my  partners  shoot  a  dude.  They  were 
pulling  a  job  and  the  storeowner,  little  guy,  jumped  on  Frankie's 
back  and  Tom  threw  down  his  gun  and  ran,  man.  Man,  you 
never  leave  your  gun,  and  Frankie  had  to  shoot  the  guy  in 
the  leg  and  pick  up  Tom's  gun. 

— Man,  that  Motherfucking  snitch  has  got  to  die.  He's  a  liar 
about  stuff,  too.  Pretending  to  have  a  junk  habit,  man.  He  came 
over  to  my  pad  once  and  said,  "Hey  man,  I'm  strung  out. 
Gimme  a  fix."  So  I  cooked  a  quarter  spoon  and  he  tied  off  and 
hit  up  and,  man,  in  five  minutes  he  was  dying  .  .  .  OD'd.  Dying, 
man!  Everyone  said  throw  his  body  in  a  car  and  we'll  dump 
him  but  I  said  no,  and  took  him  to  the  bathtub,  man,  and  filled 
it  with  cold  water  and  got  ice  cubes  and  put  them  under  his 
balls  and  gave  him  mouth-to-mouth  resuscitation  and  saved  the 
fucking  dude's  life,  man.  Ask  him  about  that  when  you  get 
upstairs. 

Pictures  in  my  mind  .  .  .  Willie's  mouth  on  Tom's  .  .  .  Tom's 
mouth  bleeding  .  .  .  Tom's  father  beating  him  up  as  a  kid. 

— Why  do  you  rob,  Willie? 

— To  support  my  habit,  man.  I  gotta  have  my  stuff. 

— You  reallylike  heroin? 

Willie  threw  back  shoulders  .  .  .  swell  chest  .  .  .  smile  proud. 

— Heroin  is  me!  That's  when  I'm  myself,  man,  when  I'm  on. 
I'd  rather  fix  than  fuck  a  woman.  Any  time. 

Willie  turn  to  friend  .  .  . — Mike,  you  rather  fix  or  fuck? 

Mike  slid  mouth  in  honest  evil  sly  smile. 

— Fuck,  man,  fuck.  Push  his  fist  up  down  masturbatory  over 
left  arm  vein. 

— Well,  heroin  is  no  crime.  There  shouldn't  be  a  law  against 
heroin.  It  should  be  available  on  prescription  for  those  need  it. 

Willie  laughed. — Yeah,  man,  make  it  legal. 

— If  heroin  were  legal,  you  wouldn't  need  a  lot  of  money  to 


126 


support  a  habit.  Then  you  wouldn't  have  to  rob  and  carry  a 
gun  and  scare  little  old  ladies  in  liquor  stores. 

— You're  right.  But  we'd  still  have  to  use  violence  against 
snitches. 

— No,  there'd  be  no  snitches,  Willie,  because  it's  not  illegal. 
You  wouldn't  have  to  be  violent  at  all. 

He  thought  for  a  moment .  .  . — You  think  you  could  persuade 
me  not  to  be  violent? 

Back  to  tank,  Tom  asleep.  Got  up  for  dinner,  still  punchy. 
Nose  swollen  ...  not  broken.  Talked  bitter  not  trusting  rattle- 
snakes. 

At  lights  out  came  to  my  cell  .  .  . — After  he  hit  me,  I  was  in 
a  daze.  But  I  seem  to  remember  someone  saying.  "Wait  a 
minute!"  Did  I  say  that  or  did  you? 

Next  day  sat  with  Tom  in  mess  hall  and  Willie  wave  cheer- 
fully. 

— See  you  on  the  bus  for  Chino. 

That  night,  last  jail  night,  very  high.  Tom  came  to  cell  .  .  . 
I  told  him  how  much  the  drama  with  Willie  had  affected  me. 

— It's  some  ancient  powerful  childhood  family  thing  you  and 
Willie  are  playing  out.  The  attack  would  have  come  sooner 
or  later  and  I'm  glad  that  I  was  there  to  share  it.  You  two  are 
very  close.  I  want  to  protect  you  both. 

—I'm  sorry  you  had  to  get  mixed  up  in  it. 

I  never  saw  him  again. 

The  next  morning  shackled  on  barred  window  Bus  to  Chino 
Big  House. 

Willie  not  on  bus. 

Six  hours  Chino  steel  casket  loaded  onto  Vacaville  chain 
shackled  to  a  forty-year-old  Black  nineteen  of  years  in  prison. 
Brilliant,  tenderloin,  cynical  heroin-addict  thief  sporting  life 
comedian.  "If  this  bus  were  to  have  an  accident  and  the  guards 
killed,  I  wouldn't  escape.  I'd  pick  their  pockets,  man,  but  I 
wouldn't  run."  Thinks  Cassius  Clay  dangerous  maniac  blowing 
four  million  dollars. 

At  Vacaville  fell  in  with  cell  group  two  Black  pimps,  Catholic 
revolutionary,  two  Black  addicts  and  four  proud  armed  robbers. 
Double  bunk  closely  .  .  .  eight  men  share  twelve-by-twelve 
livmg  area  ...  I  have  never  witnessed  such  affection,  gener- 
osity, wit  and  wisdom. 

After  a  week  chained  again,  driven  airport,  flown  mysterious 
smgle-engine  Cessna  down  central  valley  over  grapevines  back 
to  Chino  .  .  .  locked  In  metal  cage.  Guard  smiled  as  he  walked 
away.— Your  room-mate's  going  to  be  a  surprise  for  you. 

I  wait  at  bars.  After  a  while  coming  through  crowd,  carrying 

127 


his  blankets,  beard  gone,  long  hair  cut,  looking  tender  young 
vulnerable,  was  my  son  Jack.  His  face  lit  up. 

We  went  out  to  yard  ...  sat  in  grass  exchanging  notes 
happy  together  .  .  .  looked  up,  saw  at  center  blue-shirt  ring, 
Willie  Madden.  I  shout  wave.  Willie  smiles,  gang  swings  around, 
approaches  ...  I  could  hear  Jack  muttering  in  protest  as  I 
got  up  to  meet  Willie  ...  I  ask  if  he  met  Jack  .  .  .  "Sure,  we 
came  up  on  the  same  chain  from  Santa  Ana."  He  smile,  but 
Jack  back  turned  to  Willie. 

Afterwards,  Jack  said  that  Willie  run  down  story  of  Tom  Lynn 
...  put  me  down  .  .  .  threatening  rape  Jack. 

In  audible  click  wheel  of  Karma  moved  again  .  .  .  Relentless 
interweave  everything  .  .  .  Every  action  in  life,  smallest  deed, 
requires  its  balance.  Nothing  escapes  polar  law.  For  every 
neglect,  we  are  neglected.  For  every  good,  we  bettered.  For 
every  cheat,  we  cheated.  For  every  gift,  we  gifted.  Inexorable 
law  of  Karma  ...  not  just  behavioral  or  psychological  .  .  . 
weaving  zig-zag  genetic  pattern. 

Children  reap  what  parents  sow. 

My  moral  heroics  in  Santa  Ana  threatens  Jack's  serenity  at 
Chino.  My  return  to  Chino,  which  I  bitterly  dislike,  protects 
Jack. 

After  Jack  ship  off  in  chains  to  another  prison,  Willie  come 
up  to  talk  during  yoga  sessions  In  yard. 

I  tell  him  that  I  was  pulled  unwilling  participant  in  love-hate 
family  quarrel  between  himself  and  Tom.  Tom's  father  beat 
him.  What  about  your  father? 

Willie  likes  his  mother. — I  used  to  go  home  when  I  wanted 
to  kick  heroin.  I  tell  my  mother  I  had  the  flu  and  I  lie  in  bed 
for  hours  sweating  and  having  chills  and  hot  flashes.  Every 
bone  would  ache  vomiting.  Like  the  flu  but  a  thousand  times 
worse.  Diarrhea.  Dry  heaves.  Just  living  death,  man.  Then 
after  a  day  I'd  say  the  hell  with  it  and  split  to  score.  Or  if  I 
was  too  sick  to  split,  man,  I'd  have  my  friends  bring  the  stuff 
to  me. 

— One  time  I  was  sitting  In  the  bathroom  hitting  up  and  I 
forgot  to  lock  the  door  and  my  mother  walked  in  while  I  was 
tied  off  and  on.  My  family  have  a  nice  house  and  the  bathroom 
has  all  mirrors  in  it,  you  dig,  man,  and  my  mother  saw  all 
these  reflections  of  me  fixing  and  she  screamed  and  fainted 
and  I  just  got  up  and  split.  But  I  love  my  mother  and  I  treat 
her  all  right. 

— Tom  Lynn  loves  his  mother,  too. 

— Why,  that  Motherfucker's  lying,  man.  He  treats  his  mother 
like  a  dog,  man.  He  tells  her  to  go  fuck  herself. 


128 


— What  about  your  father?  He  turned  you  In? 

— Yeah.  Doing  that  for  years.  The  first  time  was  when  I 
was  14.  I  came  home  one  night  really  fucked  on  reds  and  my 
mother  was  sitting  on  the  couch  looking  unhappy  and  I  said 
what's  wrong.  And  my  older  brother  said,  "Show  him,  Mom," 
and  she  turned  her  head  and  she  had  a  black  eye.  I  said, 
"What  happened?"  And  she  said,  "I  hit  It  on  the  door,"  but 
my  brother  said,  "No,  Dad  hit  her."  So  I  waited  by  the  front 
door  and  when  he  came  home  drunk,  he  saw  me  and  he  fired 
on  me  and  I  fired  on  him  and  and  he  went  down  and  then  I 
kicked  him  unconscious.  He  called  the  cops  and  had  my  pro- 
bation violated. 

— What  does  your  father  do,  Willie? 

— Fire  Captain.  Makes  good  money,  but  drunk  most  of  the 
time.  He  really  hates  you,  Leary. 

— What  can  we  do  for  him? 

— Nothing.  Let  him  alone.  It's  too  late.  He  won't  change. 

— What  can  we  do  for  you? 

Willie  flushed  and  laughed.  I'll  never  have  anything  to  do 
with  guns.  That's  out.  Maybe  I'll  become  a  pimp.  Maybe  I 
can  be  your  bodyguard. 

— I'm  beginning  to  think  that  it's  my  fate  to  be  your  body- 
guard. How  long  am  I  going  to  have  to  follow  you  around 
pulling  you  out  of  trouble? 

He  laugh  ...  sit  silent  under  sun. 

—Failure  in  love  got  us  all  in  here.  It's  only  love  that  can 
get  us  out. 

—It's  not  too  late,  said  Willie  .  .  . 

NOLAN  GOT  UP  AND  HANDED  ME  THE  MANUSCRIPT 
WITHOUT  SAYING  ANYTHING  ... 

—WELL? 

—IT'S  A  FAKE  STORY  .  .  .  FICTION  .  .  .  AND  YOU  KNOW 
WHERE  FICTION'S  AT  ...  IT  HAS  NOTHING  TO  DO  WITH 
THE  WAY  THINGS  ARE  IN  PRISON  AND  THE  WAY  YOU 
ARE  NOW  .  .  . 

—EVERYONE  OUTSIDE  LIKED  IT  .  .  . 

—SURE  .  .  .  BECAUSE  ITS  ROMANTIC*  .  .  .  HEROIC 
JIMMY  CAGNEY  .  .  .  PLASTIC  .  .  .  HUMPHREY  BOGART 
OF  COURSE  THEY  LIKE  IT  OUTSIDE  BECAUSE  THEY  ONLY 
WANT  TO   HAVE   THEIR   ILLUSIONS   CONFIRMED  IT'S 

JUST  NOT  FROM  YOUR  SOUL 

I  NOD  AGREEMENT  .  .  . 

—YOU'LL  RIGHT  IT  .  .  .  ITS  NOT  TOO  LATE,  SAID  NOLAN 


129 


THE  FOUR 

THOUSAND 

YEAR  OLD 

ROCK  &  ROLL 

BAND: 

A  MEMORY 

EXPERIENCED 


ff  Morocco  was  a 
celestial  dream 
come  true.^^ 


In  May  '69  the  Supreme  Court  cut  us  loose  on  the  thirty  years 
for  a  half  ounce  of  grass  beef.  Rosemary  and  I  were  free 
to  leave  the  country  for  the  first  time  in  four  years. 

No  bail.  No  jail.  Set  sail  for  Morocco,  long  hair  cut  to  a  cow- 
boy trim. 

In  mixing  sacrament  for  the  trip  I  had  accidentally  taken 
too  much  and  sat  primly  In  the  Air  Iberia  waiting  room  at 
JFK,  rushing,  sorting  out  James  Bond  paranoias,  hoping  that 
Franco's  agents  would  fail  to  penetrate  my  disguise.  (I've  been 
busted  three  times  in  airports.) 

Rosemary  came  back  from  the  ticket  window  grinning. 
"Cover's  blown,  baby.  The  Spanish  ticket  agent  is  a  head.  He 
says  they  are  honored  to  have  us  trip  with  Iberia." 

The  plane  seemed  old  and  dilapidated.  We  were  sharing 
the  rear  of  tourist  class  with  a  few  elderly  and  solemn  Span- 
iards who  were  obviously  returning  home  to  die.  The  red 
carpet  was  worn  and  the  flimsy  tin  seat-tray  sagged  to  the 
side.  Two  elderly  men  in  uniform  tottered  by,  painfully  lugging 
briefcases,  gold  teeth  flashing  forlorn  smiles. 

"They  look  like  retired  generals  from  the  Spanish  Civil  War," 
I  whispered. 

"Hush,"  said  Rosemary.  "They  are  our  pilots." 

All  of  the  eight  passengers  in  tourist  class  sat  in  brooding 
silence,  staring  forward,  listening  to  sad  Spanish  tunes  on 
the  P.A. 

I  was  flashing  telepathic.  Picking  up  their  peasant  appre- 
hensions. 

Aging  Castilian  decay.  A  death  trip  for  some.  The  dying 
empire.  I  looked  at  Tiempo.  Pictures  of  senile  grandeur.  The 
Generalissimo  and  his  staff.  The  old  prince  and  his  grand- 
parents. The  duke  and  duchess.  The  old  Cardinal  and  his  staff 
of  archibishops.  No  one  under  age  of  eighty. 

"What  have  we  got  ourselves  Into  this  trip?  This  plane  is 
like  the  second  class  bus  from  Malaga  to  Torremolinos.  It  will 
never  make  the  Atlantic." 

Rosemary  was  pretending  she  didn't  know  me.  "How  much 
did  you  drop?  Really!" 

At  the  very  rear  of  the  plane  the  jet  engine  blasted  in  our 
ears— a  loud,  rattling  sound.  The  tail  of  the  plane  shuddered 
and  wrenched.  It  took  SVz  hours  to  wheeze  down  the  runway 
and  takeoff. 

The  steward  was  husky,  muscular.  "He's  a  secret  police 
agent  for  sure,"  I  whispered.  The  two  stewardesses  examined 
us  knowingly.  We  ordered  champagne. 

Rosemary  was  dozing  when  the  steward  formally  asked  me 


131 


to  step  to  the  rear  of  the  plane. 

Here  we  go!* 

The  stewardesses  were  waiting  in  the  serving  pantry. 

"Senor  Leary,  we  know  who  you  are.  Do  you  mind  if  we 
ask  you  a  question?" 

"Ah,"  I  said  guardedly. 

"Senor  Leary,  do  you  have  any  dope  on  you?" 

I  raised  eyebrows  and  shook  my  head  in  shock. 

"Dope?  On  me?  Not  a  chancel"  Defendant  denies  every- 
thing. 

Their  faces  fell  in  disappointment.  "What  a  drag!  Our  friends 
in  Madrid  will  be  disappointed.  Well,  at  least  give  us  your  auto- 
graph." 

I  started  making  surprised  noises. 

"But  I  thought  Spain  .  .  .  Franco  .  .  .  Catholic  Church  .  .  . 
secret  police  .  .  ." , 

They  looked  at  each  other  and  laughed. 

"Young  people  are  the  same  all  over  the  world,  Doctor 
Timothy." 

I  waved  Tiempo  magazine.  "But  these  pictures,  the  old 
faces  .  .  ." 

"What  about  your  Reader's  Digest?  You  know,  it's  the  same 
with  us.  Young  people  like  to  get  high  and  feel  good  and  make 
love." 

Morocco  was  a  celestial  dream  come  true. 

We  had  flown  to  this  magical,  pivotal  kingdom  for  many 
obvious  reasons — among  them  a  curiosity  to  experience  what 
it  is  like  to  live  in  that  country  of  the  future,  where  alcohol  is 
for  the  most  part  prohibited  and  cannabis  for  the  most  part 
conventionally  accepted. 

The  experiment  was  successful.  Morocco  is  the  most  psyche- 
delic country  in  the  western  world. 

Here  is  the  crossroads  of  space  and  time. 

*Note:  In  defense  of  my  paranoia,  let  me  explain  that  a  month  later,  on 
the  return  trip  from  Madrid  to  London,  agents  of  a  democratic,  non-police 
state.  Great  Britain,  did  wire  ahead,  we  were  met  by  a  half  dozen  pom- 
pous, incredibly  stuffy  bureaucratic  types,  each  clutching  in  his  left  hand 
two  official  rule  books  and  a  metal  stamping  machine,  who  did  refuse 
us  entry,  refuse  us  permission  to  fly  to  any  other  European  country,  who 
went  through  the  elaborate  pretense  of  phoning  the  homes  of  Derek 
Taylor,  John  Lennon,  Mick  dagger,  Mike  Pindar,  announced  with  shrugged 
shoulders  that  no  one  answered  at  any  of  their  houses,  and  did  escort  us 
under  heavy  guard,  including  two  matrons,  to  a  TWA  plane  bound  for  New 
York. 


132 


Consider  the  geography.  The  northwest  corner  of  Morocco 
(and  Africa)  forms  the  southern  pillar  of  the  Gates  of  Hercules. 
The  Straits  of  Gibraltar.  For  centuries  the  farthest  out  outpost 
of  the  Mediterranean  world.  Only  the  brave,  the  adventurous, 
the  spiritually  propelled  dared  sail  out  beyond  these  limits 
into  the  wild,  uncharted  western  seas.  Here  was  the  line 
separating  the  known  from  the  promising  dangerous  unknown 
western  realm.  Here,  too,  the  precise  dividing  line  between 
Africa  and  Europe. 

Standing  on  the  parapet  of  the  high  castle  in  whidh  we  lived, 
we  looked  north  across  the  straits  to  Spain,  rocky,  barren — 
southern  march  of  the  mechanical  Christian  culture.  And  turn- 
ing, we  looked  south  to  the  Atlas  mountains  and  the  Sahara. 

Northern  Morocco  is  like  northern  California.  Tangier,  a 
sleepy  San  Francisco. 

Southern  Morocco  is  like  southwest  California — green  oasis 
valleys  falling  down  to  the  desert. 

Tangier,  the  international  crossroad  city,  genetic  trading 
post.  DNA  exchange  mart.  Treasuring  the  best  from  each  of 
the  nationalities  that  have  held  sway  for  brief  periods — an 
English  sense  of  tea-room  solidity,  Spanish  rhythm,  the  tan 
grace  and  sensuality  of  the  Arabian  invaders,  French  cuisine, 
here  and  there  a  thin  veneer  of  American-Japanese  plastic, 
the  dark  black  ocean  of  jungle  Congo  Africa  seeping  through 
the  southern  mountains,  the  Bedouin  flair — but  beneath  the 
jewelled,  tattered  raiments  left  by  passing  conquerors — the 
seed,  soul,  blood,  wisdom,  and  pride  of  an  indigenous  North 
African  tribal  people  who  have  absorbed,  yielded,  but  never 
submitted. 

The  Sephardic  Jews,  scholarly  masters  of  our  Middle  Ages, 
had  passed  through  here  too,  going  to  and  retreating  from 
Spain,  and  left  their  mark. 

Tangier  had  been  for  centuries  a  free  port,  haven  for  wander- 
ing exiles,  political,  spiritual,  aesthetic.  Today,  less  flamboyant 
than  Ibiza,  more  settled  than  Katmandu,  the  tradition  remains. 

From  the  Zocco  Chico,  a  small  plaza,  ringed  with  sidewalk 
cafes  in  the  heart  of  the  bustling  Casbah,  you  can  find  a 
guide  who  will  take  you  to  a  venerable  Afghani  Sufi  master, 
a  dancing  boy  cafe,  a  hashish  dealer,  a  dervish  brotherhood, 
a  bar  to  meet  exactly  the  mirage  partner  your  fantasy  has 
yearned  for,  a  bazaar  shop  crammed  with  carved,  woven, 
engraved,  gemmed  treasures  to  furnish  the  incensed  rooms  of 
your  cannabis  reveries. 

Brion  Gysin  is  the  elegant  orthodox  bishop  of  this  metro- 
politan see.  From  his  apartment  a  terrace  opens  out  to  bay 


133 


and  hills  across.  Inside  Brion  dispenses  blessings,  visions, 
communions,  poetic  sermons,  and  wicked  gossip — the  world 
of  the  occult  Is  his  planet. 

Gysin  is  one  of  the  great  hedonic  mystic  teachers.  He  has 
played  starring  roles  in  the  great  spiritual  movies  of  our  times. 
He  led  the  rescue  party  that  found  and  saved  John  Cooke 
from  the  black  magicians  of  Algeria  and  brought  the  great 
crippled  wizard  back  to  the  living. 

He  performed  the  rites  and  lefts  in  Eileen  Garrett's  temples 
and  absorbed  the  message  of  that  fantastic  medium. 

It  was  Brion  Gysin  who  could  tell  you  anything  you  wanted 
to  know  and  tell  you  in  witty,  polished  epigrams.  It  was  Brion 
Gysin  who  had  tripped  with  everyone  of  the  forty-nine  voyagers 
to  the  East,  who  had  invented  the  Dream  Machine  (the  most 
sophisticated  neuro-phenomenological  device  ever  designed), 
who  developed,  while  carousing  intoxicated  with  Burroughs 
and  the  long-gone  Joyce,  the  literary  cut-up  technique.  It  was 
he,  handsome,  science-fiction,  Don  Juan  Lord  Brion  of  Git- 
le-Coeur,  spirit  of  the  Naked  Lunch. 

Bill  Burroughs  was  in  town  that  week  and  would  show  up 
at  Brion's  around  sundown  with  a  bottle  of  vodka  drunk  straight 
and  mixed  with  laconic  lime,  bittersweet  slow-bubbling  tonic 
remarks,  chilled  to  ice-cool  precision.  Bill  Burroughs  is  our 
lofty,  aristocratic  calculating  machine,  hyper-type-wrlter  gentle- 
pen-man  who  has  overscene  and  seered  everything,  our  hero- 
in-action escaping  through  iron  will  and  sardonic  wit  the  padded 
sells,  the  electric  shock  machines  and  surgical  steel  handcuffs 
of  the  General  Practitioners  of  Evil  and  returned  in  dignity  to 
provide  the  first-hand  clinical  descriptions  of  the  needled, 
flesh  punctured  galaxies  he  has  in-habited  and  not  In  vein. 

For  no  fee  at  all  Bill  would,  with  psycho-medical  professional 
precision,  measure  your  residual  emotions,  if  any,  on  a  Hub- 
bard Scientology  meter.  The  aim  of  the  game  was  not  to  show 
any  emotional  reaction  at  all. 

Brion  Gysin  was  still  showing  emotions — pain  in  his  plaster- 
cast  foot,  regret  at  parting,  joy  at  coming,  concern  that  his 
book  The  Process,  certainly  one  of  the  best  published  in  years, 
was  not  selling  in  America,  delighted  to  give  us  directions  to 
the  hill-top  apartment  where  Paul  Bowles  presided  over  tea 
and  shared  with  us,  alive,  the  deep  intuitive  sense  of  Morocco 
which  he  taped  in  his  great  novels.  Paul  Bowles  is  another 
one  of  the  avuncular  pioneers  of  the  psychedelic  age — ahead 
of  his  time. 

Always  bouncing  in  and  out  of  Brion's  was  his  blood  brother 
Hamri — irrepressible,  busy,  puckish,  volatile,  laughing  Mediter- 


134 


ranean  trickster.  At  age  fourteen  Hamri  had  been  the  heaviest 
smuggler  in  Morocco.  Later  he  guided  Brion  south  to  the 
desert  into  the  vast  silence  of  sand  and  it  was  Hamri  who  ini- 
tiated Brion  into  the  mystery  brotherhood  of  Joujouka,  the 
mountaintop  tribe,  guardian  of  the  Sacred  Rites  of  Pan,  home 
of  the  oldest  rock  and  roll  bands  in  the  world.  Brion  told  us  in 
detail  about  the  village.  Inaccessible  center  of  a  religion,  pre- 
Islamic,  pre-Roman,  which  preserved  the  ancient  worship  of 
the  piping  shepherd  God,  lusty,  goat-hoofed  dancing  Dionysius. 
The  village  of  the  Master  Musicians. 

The  business  of  the  village  was  the  tending  of  goats  and 
music.  Brion  would  sit  up  in  bed,  flushed  and  high,  turning  us 
on  to  the  ancient  tale.  The  tribe  had  three  bands.  The  musi- 
cians would  jump  on  donkeys,  instruments  strapped  to  the 
saddle,  and  trot  for  hours  to  a  downland  village  fiesta,  to  a 
wedding,  to  a  celebration,  to  play  for  the  general,  or,  on  occa- 
sion, for  the  Sultan  himself. 

They  would  receive  barter  in  return.  Their  only  cash  crop 
was  sound  and  rhythm.  And  the  dancers— boy  dancers,  half- 
girl,  half  male — and  Bou  Jeloud  dancers,  giant  hairy  youths 
covered  with  goatskin,  leaping  down  from  the  hills  lashing  and 
twirling  with  leafed  branches,  half-man,  half-animal.  Brian 
Jones  had  been  there  and  danced  all  night.  We  must  go 
Hamri  would  take  us. 

But  there  was  so  much  else  to  do.  We  sat  in  the  cushioned 
alcove  of  the  fanciest  restaurant,  guests  of  the  Foreign  Editor 
of  our  largest  news  magazine,  and  ate  the  world's  best  food 
and  swayed  to  the  oriental  drumming  and  watched  boys  dance 
the  candle  dance  and  then  with  a  stately  flourish  the  manager 
of  the  restaurant  produced  the  kif  (Moroccan  grass,  finely 
manicured,  fine-cut  with  a  keen  chopping  knife  and  packed 
into  small  pipe  bowls.)  We  all  turned  on  publicly,  and  on  the 
way  out  the  host's  fourteen-year-old  son  muttered  to  us  "I 
don't  want  to  spoil  Dad's  big  psychedelic  adventure,  but  that 
kif  IS  nowhere.  Do  you  want  some  dynamite  hash?" 

We  spent  days  in  the  Casbah  swimming  through  the  wash 
of  people.  Sturdy  erect  men  in  jellabah  and  fez.  The  tender 
secret  women,  softly  moving  smooth  brown  bodies,  veiled  and 
robed,  the  shopkeepers  and  artisans  in  their  little  shops  smok- 
mg  kif,  working,  smiling.  And  the  old  men,  white  haired,  serene 
smoking  kif,  clear  eyes  watching,  smiling,  reciting  the  hundred 
names  of  God. 

And  the  children.  Morocco  has  the  highest  percentage  of 
under-twelve-year-olds  in  the  world,  over  sixty  percent  of  the 
country  is  round-faced,  radiant-eyed,  merry,  playful 


135 


Occasionally  running  into  the  networl<  of  the  Brotherhoods. 
Brion  Gysin  had  told  us  about  them.  Religious  fraternities 
throughout  the  land.  Meetings  held  in  garages,  back  yards, 
living  rooms.  Each  cult  had  its  own  rituals.  And  each  one  had 
its  own  drummed  beat.  The  music  was  the  heart  of  it.  You 
could  be  a  stranger  in  Casablanca  walking  down  unfamiliar 
streets  and  you  would  hear  the  drumming,  your  rhythm,  that 
reflexlvely  flipped  you  out  like  the  command  of  a  hypnotic 
master  and  you  would  walk  entranced  to  the  house,  open  the 
gate  and  walk  in  to  the  back  room  and  start  to  weave  and 
dance  and  then  your  brothers,  strangers  no  longer,  recogniz- 
ing you  (because  the  trance  can't  be  put  on),  weave  you  into 
the  ritual. 

Some  just  danced  until  they  fainted.  Others  performed 
stylized  ordeals.  Chanting  and  muttered  prayers  were  part  of 
it.  Some,  the  fabled  fierce  Jellalah,  brandished  knives  and  got 
into  mutilation  trips. 

They  told  us  of  the  French  tourist  lady  who  was  caught  up 
in  the  ceremony  and  jumped  up  flirtatiously  to  dance — beware 
lady — the  guidelines  of  sexual  display  are  different  here — 
violating  taboo  and  four  flipped-out  Brothers  seized  her  and 
flung  her  in  the  air  and  as  she  fell  four  knives  flashed  and 
before  her  body  hit  the  ground — well,  the  rest  of  the  story 
got  into  a  surgical,  anatomical,  gory  butcher-shop  inventory. 

Randy  Weston,  the  jazz  pianist,  tall  beautiful  saint,  took  us 
to  a  meeting.  It  was  in  the  garage  of  a  middle-class  neighbor- 
hood. About  twenty  men  were  seated.  Drums  were  going.  We 
were  welcomed  with  elaborate  courtesy.  Randy  Weston  is  an 
admired  Moroccan  Brother,  the  world-wide  musician's  union. 

The  kif  pipe  was  passed.  The  heart-beat  drums  maintained 
the  blood-pressure.  Short,  breathy  chants  to  the  praise  of  Allah. 
After  a  while  a  man  in  a  business  suit  leaped  up  to  dance — 
jerking  spasmodically,  trembling.  You  could  feel  the  music 
and  the  holy  dope  and  the  oneness  of  the  group  rip  away 
the  mind  and  he  was  gone. 

Two  men  stood  on  either  side,  watching  for  the  moment. 
Swiftly  they  strapped  a  rope  around  his  waist,  and  as  he  fell, 
they  jerked  the  rope  tight  and  he  spun  around  and  round  like 
a  man  doing  an  endless  jack-knife  dive  until  they  lowered  him 
to  the  ground.  He  lay  motionless  for  five  minutes,  and  when 
he  stood  up  his  face  had  that  radiance  of  a  man  who  was 
coming  off  a  pure  acid  high  peak,  wired  into  the  universe 
energy,  smiling,  cleansed,  purified. 

Randy  had  been  to  Joujouka  too  and  the  reverent  way  he 
touted  it  left  no  doubts.  We  had  to  make  the  trip. 


136 


Hamri  came  for  us  in  a  cab  early  in  the  morning.  We  drove 
south  down  the  Atlantic  coast  past  miles  of  wide  sandy 
beaches,  deserted.  Hamri  sitting  by  the  driver,  the  eternal 
Gemini,  pouring  cascades  of  quicksilver,  nervous,  funny  words 
back  to  us. 

We  reached  Azila,  the  first  leg  of  our  journey,  before  noon. 
.  Hamri  discharged  the  driver  and  took  us  on  foot  around  the 
city.  We  saw  little  that  reminded  us  of  the  20th  century.  For 
Hamri  it  was  a  family  triumphant  return  to  his  home-time.  He 
joked  with  shopkeepers,  grandly  received  the  welcoming  sa- 
lutes and  greetings.  The  market  place  was  his  dining  table. 
He  selected  snails  from  stall  counter  steamers,  chose  a  piece 
of  fruit  from  a  basket,  showed  us  the  house  which,  the  hotel 
where  (it's  run  down  now),  the  old  man  who,  and  the  times 
when. 

At  the  end  of  a  narrow  alley  we  ducked  into  a  windowless 
room  with  bamboo  mats  on  the  floor  and  raised  alcoves  cut 
into  the  walls. 

We  sat  on  cushions.  The  owner  was  a  wiry,  agile  man  with 
a  thin  mustache.  He  brought  us  mint  tea  and  a  kif  pipe. 

There  were  a  dozen  men  in  the  room,  smoking  kif,  playing 
cards,  hanging  out,  drinking  sweet  tea,  staying  high.  It  was  a 
familiar  head  scene.  You  could  feel  the  relaxed,  good-humored 
sweet  unity  in  the  room.  We  were  with  psychedelic  brothers. 
We  were  home. 

Hamri  explained  the  Moroccan  way  of  getting  high.  "Ameri- 
cans use  that  strong  Mexican  grass  and  get  loaded  like  a 
cocktail  party,  but  of  course  quiet  and  beautiful  instead  of 
noisy  and  jangly.  We  do  it  differently.  Our  kif  is  gentle.  Like 
fine  rare  wine  compared  to  your  tequila-marijuana.  We  light  a 
pipe  first  thing  in  the  morning.  Easy  and  gentle.  Then  another. 
After  five  or  so  pipes  you  have  slowly  floated  to  the  plateau 
of  warmth  where  you  want  to  spend  the  day.  Not  bombed  out. 
A  floating  white  cloudlike  place  where  you  can  do  your  busi- 
ness, see  everything  with  a  million  eyes,  gracefully  arrange  the 
strings  of  your  work.  Life  is  beautiful." 

As  we  were  ready  to  go,  Hamri  played  a  card  game  with 
the  owner.  The  game  was  exciting.  .They  were  playing  for  the 
bill.  The  patrons  leaned  forward,  grinning.  The  owner  made  a 
miraculous  comeback  on  the  last  hand  and  won  by  one  point. 
We  were  all  glad  and  happy  when  we  left. 

"Now,"  announced  Hamri  with  enthusiasm,  "we  eat  and 
drink." 

We  stopped  at  a  stall  where  a  man  was  broiling  ground  beef 
hand-patted  around  skewers.  We  sat  down  inside  a  small  room 


137 


with  one  large  table.  Six  Moroccans,  all  in  their  twenties, 
dressed  in  Western  style,  were  drinking  Scotch  whisky  and 
warm  coke. 

They  greeted  us  with  the  blowsy,  loud  jollity  of  any  barroom. 
We  declined  the  whisky.  Hamri  bustled  in  triumphantly  with 
beer  and  heavy  rolls  of  white  bread.  Then  he  bopped  back 
with  a  long  tray  containing  twenty  metal  skewers  giving  off 
the  aroma  of  barbecue.  Hamri  sliced  open  a  roll.  He  selected 
seven  skewers  in  his  right  hand,  placed  the  meat  on  the  bot- 
tom of  the  roll,  folded  the  top  back  with  his  thumb  and,  pinch- 
ing the  roll,  pulled  out  the  skewers  with  a  flourish. 

By  the  time  we  had  finished  three  rolls,  our  companions  had 
killed  the  fifth  of  Scotch.  They  were  noisily  arguing,  pounding 
the  table,  shouting  over  each  other's  voices — the  universal 
sad  spectacle  of  crude  juicers.  They  shouted  affectionately  as 
we  left  and  shook  our  hands  with  sweaty  pressure. 

Out  in  the  street  we  asked  Hamri  what  they  were  talking 
about.  "Business  and  politics." 

We  asked  Hamri  what  they  talked  about  at  the  kif  tea  house. 
"No  talk,"  said  Hamri.  "They  just  smile  and  think  about  the 
greatness  of  God  and  the  beauty  of  life.  Me,  I  like  to  shout 
and  get  drunk  and  fall  down,  and  I  like  to  get  high.  I  like 
everything,"  said  Hamri  laughing. 

After  haggling  with  the  driver,  Hamri  piled  us  into  an  ancient 
cab  and  we  drove  for  an  hour  through  vineyards  and  fruit 
tree  orchards.  Rolling  hills  like  Sonoma  county.  At  one  point 
we  pulled  off  the  road  and  drove  up  to  a  military  fort.  Hamri 
leaped  out  and  disappeared.  When  he  returned  he  said  that 
as  a  matter  of  courtesy  he  had  told  the  commandant,  a  cousin 
of  his,  that  he  was  taking  us  up  the  mountain. 

After  a  while,  the  macadam  road  turned  to  dirt  and  then 
to  a  path.  The  car  halted. 

"From  here  we  walk.  Leave  the  luggage.  The  boys  will  come 
for  it." 

We  walked  for  a  half  hour  along  a  valley.  The  hills  were 
soft  and  green.  A  farmer  pruning  trees  saw  us,  waved  and 
shouted.  Hamri  shouted  back.  He  wanted  to  know  if  we  wanted 
fruit  or  water  and  wished  us  the  blessings  of  Allah. 

Soon  the  path  turned  to  the  left  and  started  up.  It  took  about 
an  hour  to  reach  the  village. 

First  we  heard  the  dogs.  Then  saw  stone  and  mud  huts. 
Thatched  roofs.  When  we  reached  the  very  top  of  the  hill  we 
could  look  down  in  three  directions  to  the  valleys  below.  We 
could  see  about  ten  houses.  "There's  the  school  room,"  said 
Hamri,  pointing  to  a  one-storey  building  about  the  size  of  two 
garages  placed  end  to  end. 

138 


As  we  walked  toward  it  a  group  of  men  sitting  under  the 
roofed  porch  rose  and  came  to  greet  us.  Their  robes  were  old 
and  tattered  but  they  walked  tall  and  greeted  us  with  regal 
dignity. 

We  sat  on  cushions  on  the  porch.  Mint  tea.  They  all  unfolded 
leather  pouches,  tassled  and  braided,  containing  pipe  and  kif. 
We  smoked  and  drank  and  I  made  polite  conversation  in  Span- 
ish. Hamri  was  a  Napoleon  painting,  giving  commands  to  the 
young  boys  who  giggled  and  ran  to  do  his  bidding. 

The  sun  had  set.  Rosemary  and  I  walked  to  the  edge  of  the 
hill  and  watched  a  few  lights  in  houses  down  the  valley.  The 
boy  who  had  been  assigned  to  watch  waited  at  our  side. 

We  were  seated  at  the  end  of  the  schoolroom,  cushioned  in 
Sultan  style. 

One  by  one  the  musicians  came  in,  saluted  us,  embraced 
Hamri  and  greeted  each  other  with  that  easy  familiarity  that 
only  comes  from  living  together  forever. 

From  their  robes  they  drew  pouches  containing  their  instru- 
ments. Small  two-penny  bamboo  flutes.  Deep  drums,  leather 
lashed  with  artistry.  A  very,  very  old  man  with  a  long,  narrow 
face  and  angelic  smile  carefully  opened  a  fiddle  case  and 
reverently  pulled  back  the  cloth  wrappings.  Holding  a  violin 
up  for  our  inspection,  he  told  me  in  Spanish  he  had  bought 
it  in  a  pawn  shop  in  San  Francisco,  thirty  years  ago.  He  had 
been  a  sailor  then. 

A  stir  at  the  door  and  a  small  man,  somebody's  grandfather, 
stood  in  the  middle  of  the  room.  He  removed  his  cape  with  a 
flourish  and  tossed  it  to  a  sixteen-year-old  boy  who  followed 
him.  He  came  to  us  with  ballet  smoothness,  bowed,  spoke  a 
prayer,  looked  up  with  the  grin  of  a  burlesque  comedian, 
turned,  lifting  his  foot  and  sweeping  it  over  the  heads  of  the 
seated  musicians  and  glided  to  his  place  with  the  rippling 
erotic  grace  of  a  lioness.  Berdou. 

The  narrow  room  beginning  gently  to  Inflate.  It  was  a  dress- 
ing room  backstage  at  Fillmore  East.  Musicians  before  the  gig. 
Rapping.  Joking.  Relaxing.  Messing  idly  with  instruments. 

The  kif  pipes  were  busy.  Being  filled.  Lit.  Smoked.  Emptied. 
A  last  puff  reddens  eye  of  bowl  and  pipe  turned  sideways 
whooshing  exhalation  blowing  glowing  ash  out.  You  could  feel 
room  getting  mellow  high. 

Musicians  settling  down  along  two  long  side  walls.  To  our 
left  were  flautists.  Sitting  against  right  wall,  violin  and  drums. 

To  our  front  left  squatted  sixty-year-old  Abdullah  in  worn 
jellabah,  close  cropped  grey  hair.  His  huge  hands  almost  con- 
cealed small   bamboo  flute.  He  started  aimless,  exploratory 

139 


series  of  high  tones.  Thin  old  fellow  on  his  left  dipped  in  with 
trial  runs.  Drums  tuning  up.  Then  Abdullah  tooK  off.  High  wire 
of  sound  strung  across  room  hooking  heads  together.  Other 
flutes  skipped  around  it.  Drums  settled  down  to  a  solid  beat. 
Violin  spun  into  crazy  dance,  and  .  .  . 

WHAM!  They  were  off.  Wailing!  Desert  winds  shining  across 
sand-dunes.  Shrill  cry  of  muezzin  calling  dawn  prayer  from 
minaret  high  above  walled  city.  Flopping  beat  of  camel  trains. 
Abdullah's  beard-stubbled  cheeks  swollen  with  sound.  Eyes 
sparkling.  Shepherds  high  on  a  mountaintop  calling  flocks. 
Drummer  bouncing  carven  stick  off  upper  skin  flicking  small 
twig  against  lower  skin.  Donkey  trot,  trot,  trotting  down  shady 
road.  Violin  calling  from  Berber  mountaintop.  Room  undulating 
to  sinuous  bellydance  rhythms  Tunisian.  Water  running  down 
narrow  valleys  of  The  Rif.  Wind  whistling  through  palm  trees. 
Shadowy  Harem  laughter,  sighing,  giggling.  High  pure  voice 
of  muezzin  calling  praise  of  Allah.  Thudding  rush  of  footsteps 
outside  Bedouin  tent.  Keening  wail  of  old  women.  How  long, 
Oh  Lord!  Toothless  violinist  spinning  fiddle  back  and  forth 
against  knee,  grinning  wickedly,  foxing  through  dancehalls  of 
Alexandria,  Viennese  beer  gardens,  Sultan's  wedding  party, 
funky  seaport  brothels.  He  had  voyaged  some,  that  slicky 
fiddler!  Pure,  piercing  thread  of  starlight  on  black  night  desert 
and  thunder  drumming  up  Barbary  coast  to  Bedouin  beat. 
Rangy  jackals  screeching  at  Sahara  moon.  Abdullah  laid  down 
flute,  lit  kif  pipe,  smiled  benignly  while  music  whirled  heavy 
smoke  around  his  grey  head.  He  coolly  piped  clear  sparkling 
liquid  splashing  from  fountains  in  Caliph's  garden.  (Islamic 
music  bubbles  and  ripples,  watering  thirsty  soul  of  desert 
people.)  Ali  laid  down  kif  pipe,  picked  up  fiddle,  spinning  fine 
spider  strand,  thin  sword  blade  wire  of  sound.  Then  came  soft 
perfumes.  And  sound  of  feasting.  Brilliant  garments.  Enjoy- 
ment of  Houris,  Hur  Al  Oyon,  black-eyed  daughters  of  para- 
dise. Lost  sheep  bawled  to  nervous  rustling  flock.  All  their 
music  is  prayer.  Islam  has  no  professional  clergy.  Every  Fol- 
lower of  the  Prophet  is  obliged  to  kneel  five  times  a  day,  pray- 
ing face  to  Mecca.  Six  hundred  million  voices  chanting  praise 
of  God.  (Islam  means  submission.)  Hear  us,  Allah,  sang  flutes. 
Thy  mercy  is  endless,  sang  violin.  Thou  art  Creator  of  all 
things,  beat  the  drums.  Thy  goodness  is  wider  than  desert, 
deeper  than  ocean.  Thou  wilt  not  forget  we  humble  musicians 
of  Joujouka  when  thou  distribute  thy  good  things.  We,  poor 
tattered  musicians  of  Joujouka,  chant  thy  praises  more  sweetly 
if  our  flocks  increase  and  our  bellies  full. 

Music  stopped.  Desert  silence.  Hamri  bounced  over  to  us 
beaming.  He  didn't  have  to  ask.  We  didn't  have  to  say  a  word. 

140 


The  nine  musicians  were  grinning  and  shining  with  radiance 
that  only  connes  when  it  has  all  come  together — music,  people, 
and  God. 

"Now  we  stop  for  while  to  eat,"  said  Hamri. 

At  other  end  of  long  room  a  rude  kitchen  had  been  set  up. 
Kerosene  burners.  Steaming  pots  and  kettles  swiftly  produced 
shepherd's  banquet. 

After  meal  we  were  handed  small  round  bush  of  dried  stems 
and  taught  how  to  break  off  sturdy  fibrous  tooth  pick  clean 
our  teeth.  Mint  tea  all  around  and  the  show  was  ready  to 
proceed. 

A  rustle  of  subdued  energy  at  door  and  fifteen-year-old 
Mohammed  (who  had  been  sitting  devotionally  at  Berdou's 
feet)  walked  to  center  of  the  room.  Transformed. 

Music  sidling  into  horny  beat.  Mohammed,  dancing  boy, 
tossed  black  crew-cut  curls  and  danced. 

Ava  were  his  hips  and  Marilyn  her  arms.  Janice  belting  or 
Gracie  stalking  or  Shakti  sliding  or  Rhadha  swaying  or  Jane 
Jane  undulating?  Broadway  Joe  stripped  to  waist  whirling? 
Raquel  go-go  or  Brigit  burlesque  bouncing  or  Inger  stripper 
queen  or  Karen  pom  pom?  Andalusian  beauty  fingers  snapping 
she  came  to  us  eyes  sultry,  nylon  skin  dewy  sweating  bikini 
musk  scent  trailing  throughout  pulsy  dreams.  Serpentine  he 
swung  silk  veiled  flesh  quivering  and  drums  beating  up  old 
animal  she-body  rhythm.  Faster  and  faster  but  no  movement 
of  face.  Fixed,  enigmatic  smile,  stoned  eyes  far-away  laughing, 
faster  and  faster  'til  flute  wings  buzzing  out  of  bamboo  hives, 
pollen  laden  coiled  kissing  round  her  stamen-naked  head, 
higher  and  higher  frantic  abandon,  semen  dripping  winged 
anthers  of  sound,  pure  ribbons  of  sexuality,  then  one  high  note 
spun  down  from  Vega  galaxy,  accelerated  through  Milky  Way, 
shined  off  sun,  bounced  off  Venus  now  become  siren  song  of 
flesh  on  earth,  pierce  mating  drone. 

And  then  Mohammed  Ali  fixed  in  trance  belting  out  bumping 
muscular  Nijinsky,  Cassius  Clay,  biceptual,  trisexual,  All-star, 
transerotic  power  fuck,  Adonis  swathed  in  Venus  veils. 

A  bow.  Soft  wave.  One  last  enigmatic  shrug.  He  was  gone. 

Everyone  in  room  softly  breathing.  Toking  kif.  Relaxing  after 
the  ball.  Smiling  wisely.  One  flute  kept  post-coital  thread  of 
touch  going.  Lazy,  Instrumental  ribbon  gentle  back-rubbing 
ripple  catching  one  note  and  then  keeping  constant  flow  of 
air  through  nose  and  out  flute  without  break  for  breath.  On 
and  on. 

Then  old  fiddler  picks  It  up,  obligates,  virtuoso  runs,  opera- 
tic trills,  concert-hall  flourishes,  eyes  closed,  flipping  old  hand- 

141 


polished,  skin-rubbed  ancient  beloved  instrument  back  and 
forth,  sailing  into  Russian  impassionato,  sweet  sticky  German 
candy  waves  of  baroque,  churrigesque  sound. 

And  from  beyond  him  wavering  voice  of  Berdou  breaking 
with  La  Scala  arabeques,  ballooned  to  quavering  falsetto, 
tumbling  down  scale  in  comic  coughs  and  mezzo-soprano 
screams.  We  flipped  surprise  then  caught  his  clown  laughter, 
mocking  pomposity  Western  violin  and  everyone  laughed  at 
oriental  Arab  joke  that  wily  old  satire  queen  Berdou  poked  at 
grim  European  self-Indulgent  Christian  sincerity.*  And  old 
fiddler  rolling  eyes,  waving  insect  antennae  trapped  in  helpless 
molasses.  Wizened  yogi  clown  aping,  mimicking,  burlesquing. 
Crowd  roaring.  Fiddler  sawing  resignedly  once  again,  for 
thousandth  time  Laurel  'n  Hardy  butt  of  ancient  routine. 

Then  the  whole  show  clicked  up  to  higher  level.  We  began 
to  dig  the  subtle  play.  Here  we  have  the  original  rock  and  roll 
group.  The  one  and  only  lonely  heart's  club  band  of  Joujouka. 
Four  thousand  years  ago  shepherds  tending  sheep  on  moun- 
tain top  moving  along  ridges  to  fresh  pasture  land.  Long  weeks 
away  from  home  and  family.  Lonely  windy  days  calling  sheep 
with  piping  trills  and  lonely  nights  around  camp  fire,  high  on 
mountain  marijuana,  pressing  away  solitary  darkness  with  soft 
flute  songs.  This  is  high  land  of  The  Great  God  Pan,  horny, 
cloven-hooved  spirit  of  animal  sexuality.  All  day  watching 
dainty,  wiggling,  mincing  trot  of  thin-legged  saucy,  soft,  furry, 
secret,  cuddly  females,  and  insistent  red-butting  rut-lust  of 
ram  thrust.  The  arcane  sly  fraternity  of  animal  husbandry, 
tender  lamb  rearing,  kid-wifery.  Aweful  blind  spurting  compul- 
sion of  informal  experimental  breeding  stations,  forbidden  ter- 
rible mysterious  pull  of  interspecies  lechery.  Irrepressible 
genetic  sexy  barnyard  fantasies  of  interspecies  coupling.  Eerie 
offspring.  Illegimate  hallucinatory  mythic  bastards.  Mermaids. 
Sphinxes.  Centaurs.  Dogfaced  divinities.  Catbodied  Nile  queens. 
Winged  angels  fallen.  Two  armed,  fat-bellied  elephant-headed 
lecherous  avatars.  Horned  fur  devils.  Incubi  and  succubi  to 
cover  our  dream-haunted  hungry  bodies  in  the  still  of  herds- 
man night,  the  thousand  half-man-animal-half-woman,  sexual 
hashish  flesh  mixtures  lascivious  temptations  of  our  DNA 
chastity.  Beastly.  Beastly  Beast.  Great  Beast. 

All  seeing,  time  blows  foregiving  breath  over  millenium 
lonely  mountain  tops  where  sheep  sigh  and  sheepskin  drums 
beat  up  our  blood  and  pipes  play  and  husky,  muscular,  hairy 
big-boned   youths,   half-human,    half-animal    leap   up    running 

*  Let's  face  it.  The  violin  is  a  pretentious,  arthropod,  European  instrument, 
inevitably  comic  to  the  natural,  lycergic  eye. 

142 


madly  to  murmuring  midnite  flock  and  slender,  smooth-skinned, 
beardless  boys  stand  up  shyly  begin  to  dance,  here,  dear  boy 
take  turban  veil  while  knowing  fingers  snap  and  tender  youth 
lilts  into  twisting  bisexual  ballet  and  Great  God  Drunken 
Dionysius  twists  his  mustache,  old  stoned  eyes  twinkling,  and 
laughs. 

Here  is  religious  intoxication  which  pre-dates  the  Vedic 
soma-psychedelic  scholars,  ten  thousand  generations  older 
than  Buddha  and  Christ.  Oldest  blood-seed  ritual.  Fierce,  un- 
stoppable unity  dance  of  life,  ancient,  pre-human  mutational 
congregation,  fertility  worship,  source  of  totem,  shameful  seed 
of  evolution.* 

•I   remember  the  time  that  I  was  wandering  high  on  acid  up  the  desert 
mountain  stream  that  tiny  Jerry  showed  me.  I  got  ahead  higher  than  the 
rest  and  when  they  came  down  to  the  jeep  they  said  that  the  last  they 
saw  of  me  was  sitting  on  a  rock  drumming  message  to   rattlesnal<e  god 
and   Calvin   said   he   would   wait   with   two   mules   to   take   me   back    And 
hours  later  after  Calvin  and  I   found  the  waterfall  and  fell  on  our  knees 
in  prayer,  and  crawled  through  the  cave,  and  sat  by  the  gentle  stream  that 
flowed  through   high  green   pasture,   when   we   reached  the   mules   I   said 
tentatively,  "This  mule  has  never  been  ridden  before  today,  has  if?"  And 
Calvin  shook  his  black  beard  and  laughed  and  said,  "That's  all  right,  you 
just  have  to  make  friends  with  her."  And  he  lifted  the  tail  of  the  huge 
animal   and  shoved   his   hand   eye-level   between   her  legs   and   moved   it 
softly,   caressing.  Then   he  said.   "You   do   it."  And   I    looked   up  the   long 
powerful  legs,  as  thick  as  my  shoulders  and  gaped  at  the  dark,  shadow 
crease  where   legs  joined   and   steamy  smell   of  mule   bathed   me   and   I 
gaped  and  Calvin  said,  "Go  ahead.  Run  your  hand  up  along  her  legs.  She'll 
dig  It."  And  I  put  my  hand  on  inside  of  her  left  leg  and  moved  it  up,  fear- 
fully, and  felt  the  rounded  muscle  fearful  with  horse  power  and  slip  up 
against  the   moist  yielding  smooth  flesh   to   her  crotch   and   the  one  ton 
creature  shifted  her  weight  slightly  and  breathed  softly  and  I  slid  my  hand 
down  hairless  leg,  palm  slippery  and  up  and  shyly  looked  at  Calvin  who 
watched  me  grinning,  and  she  arched  up  her  head  and  settled  her  four 
legs  luxuriously  in  the  sand.  Hail  Mare  full  of  race.  The  Lord  is  with  thee' 
Blessed    is    the    strange   fruit   of  thy   womb.    When    I    stopped   and    pulled 
my  hand  out  Calvin  said,  shyly,  "I  learned  a  lot  talking  to  these  old  cow- 
boys around   here.   They  say  there's  only  one   sure  way   to   master  your 
animals  and  that's  the   way  you   master  your  woman   and   they   have   all 
sorts  of  jokes  about  climbing  up  on  boxes  and  so  on."  I  was  still  holding 
my  hand  out  at  my  side  and  felt  I  had  just  been  initiated  into  some  special 
mountain-man  secret,  powerful  and  funny.  We  rode  back  five  miles  on  the 
road  and  the  mule  was  nervous  and  I  got  nervous  when   I   realized  that 
she  knew  less  about  being  ridden  than  I  did  about  riding  and  once  when 
she  bolted   I   drove  her  into  some  sage  and   while  she   panted  jumpily  I 
held  my  right  hand  down   to  her  nose  and  then    rubbed   it  on   her  huge 
buttock  and  reined  her  back  on  the  road  and  plodded  on  in  twilight  watch- 
ing  stars  pop  out  and  remembering  Joujouka. 

143 


For  over  one  hundred  fifty  generations  these  villagers  have 
herded  sheep  and  played  shepherd  music  and  worshipped 
Pan  and  watched  their  stocky  adolescents  rush  out  wildly  to 
the  flocks  at  night  and  their  slender  boys  dancing  veiled 
remembering  their  own  youth.  By  age  three  they  knew  which 
boys  would  play  the  part  of  hairy,  goat-skinned  Bou  Jeloud 
and  which  boys  would  dance  veiled.  The  kids  learned  to  play 
instruments  as  they  learned  to  talk.  The  small  tribe  isolated 
on  the  mountain  divided  into  three  musical  groups.  At  any 
given  time  one  or  more  were  out  on  the  road.  We  watched 
one  group  leaving  next  dawn,  huddled  on  donkeys,  drums 
lashed  to  the  side.  Ride  all  day  to  wedding  or  celebration  or 
feast  of  rich  man  or,  in  old  days,  the  Sultan.  Trot  into  town  at 
sunset.  Sit  around  cutting  and  smoking  kif  and  when  the 
fiesta  was  ready  play  all  night.  Talk  about  hip.  Four  thousand 
years  of  canny  old  show-biz  wisdom.  Performer  lore.  Thirty 
years  of  being  John-Paul-George-Ringo  night  after  night  get- 
ting high  together  in  Liverpool  bars  like  their  fathers  and  grand- 
fathers did  before  them,  until  the  routine  got  so  natural  it  was 
like  breathing  together  and  watching  the  young  boys  grow  up 
and  get  married.  Sitting  around  stoned  digging  each  new 
scene,  digging  the  gossip  and  the  action  and  the  interplay  of 
each  village.  Improvising,  playing  out  the  old  classic  slapstick 
comic  routines. 

We  were  turned  on  to  Berdou  now  and  he  took  us  on  a 
drum  solo,  at  first  seated  and  then  leaping  to  feet  still  drum- 
ming started  a  bisexual  ballet  dancing  with  The  Boy  Moham- 
med, using  drum  as  prop  became  old  woman  carrying  water, 
young  girl  swaying  through  market  with  basket  of  flowers, 
farm  girl  stuffing  corn  in  bag,  and  then  with  jellabah  crook- 
armed  across  his  veiled  face  old  crone  limping,  and  then 
with  a  sultry  burst  of  boyhood  belting  out  a  Minsky  grind,  and 
dancing  towards  Rosemary,  his  arms  beckoning  her  to  dance. 
Rosemary  blushed  and  gracefully  refused.  It  was  an  all-male 
show  and  Rosemary  admitted  as  honorary  man  for  the  night. 
But  Berdou  came  back  beckoning  and  Rosemary  palms  to- 
gether Hindu-style  bowed  and  refused,  but  some  subtle  bridge 
of  communion  was  building  and  when  he  came  dancing  back 
the  third  time  he  knew  and  we  knew  that  it  was  right  for  her 
to  get  up  and  swirl  her  veil  behind  her  hips,  holding  it  low 
and  dancing  with  it,  oh  so  young  girl  timidly  following  him  to 
the  center  of  the  room  and  the  musicians  swept  in  with  joyous 
affirmation  and  worship  of  her  maiden  Godhood  and  the  beat 
picked  up  and  I  was  grinning  proudly  and  my  beautiful  woman 
turned  and  danced  to  the  drums  and  whirled  and  danced  to 


144 


the  pipes  and  turned  and  danced  to  delighted  onlookers  at  the 
end  of  room.  Knowing  her  so  well,  I  sensed  her  holding  in  so 
delicately,  because  this  was  no  place  for  rose-in-mouth  Rita 
Hayworth  Hollywood  female  histrionics,  and  she  kept  perfect 
reserved  maiden  hesitation  but  at  one  point,  slipped  her  cover 
for  just  one  perceptible  second  and  showed  them  a  laughing 
glimpse  of  her  ancient,  familiar,  Aphrodite  power,  a  single, 
simple,  perfectly  controlled  body  shot  a  block-buster  flash  of 
full  woman  power  that  blew  the  roof  off  the  room  and  then 
dropping  her  head  and  smiling  she  became  girl  again  but 
everyone  saw  it  and  felt  the  ancient  energy  in  classic  form  and 
a  murmur  of  appreciation  and  smiling  glances  round  the  room 
and  she  danced  backwards,  laughing  a  little  and  pretending  to 
trip,  and  the  most  beautiful  graceful  woman  in  the  world  fell 
back  in  my  lap. 

With  inaudible  click  we  had  all  come  together  and  from 
there  on  it  was  a  reunion  of  old  psychedelic  Brothers  and 
the  music  slid  off  from  Rosemary's  sensuality  to  a  comic  stut- 
ter and  Berdou  staggered  into  a  Charlie  Chaplin,  drum  as 
camera  on  tripod,  taking  our  picture,  squinting,  knocking  it 
over,  catching  It,  pointing  it  wrong,  scratching  his  head,  mock- 
ing native  bewilderment  at  unfamiliar  European  gadget,  essence 
peasant  joke  against  blind  colonial  machine,  and  then  with 
flourish  pulling  out  invisible  picture,  I  took  It  and  we  exclaimed 
and  autographed  it  and  Berdou  duck-walked  over  and  tacked 
it  to  wall  and  then  became  an  Englishman  pouring  whiskey 
drunkenly  urging  us  to  drink  and  coming  on  with  western 
boozy  friend-of-the-native  affability,  all  pantomine,  and  faggot 
lurching  futilely  after  boy  Abdullah  and  English  lady's  tea 
party  and  tourists  in  market  place  and  then  tourist  in  brothel 
playing  all  the  parts  and  then  Arab  peasant  with  donkey,  page 
after  page  of  Moroccan  picture  album,  complete  master  of 
scene,  swaggering,  prancing,  posing.  The  Boy  Mohammed  sit- 
ting quietly  worshipping  teacher.  And  music  picked  up  and 
Hamri  danced  and  thin  drummer  danced  giving  us  memory 
snapshots  of  his  own  dancing-boy  past  and  then  old  Abdullah 
himself  rose  to  murmur  of  surprised  approval,  (we're  really 
getting  it. on  tonight)  and  started  a  shy  shuffling  dance,  dig- 
nified as  befit  his  years,  grinning  from  'corner  of  mouth, 
restrained  but  still  in  poised  rhythm. 

Then  at  some  invisible  signal  music  stopped.  Hushed  silence, 
meditative.  Heads  down.  Waiting.  Berdou  started  talking  in  a 
low  voice.  We  could  not  understand  the  Arabic  but  tone  was 
solemn.  Realize  he  was  praying.  Talking  in  serious  conversa- 
tional style  to  God  as  though  He  were  In  the  room.  Realized 


145 


with  start  that  He  was  in  the  room.  Everyone  leaning  forward 
nodding  as  Berdou  explained  to  Him  our  troubles,  our  hopes, 
our  fears.  Talking  fast,  so  much  to  say.  Voice  rising  and  fall- 
ing, punctuated  with  sighs.  This  is  important.  Oh  Great  Merciful 
One.  And  hear  this.  And  please  do  not  forget.  We  were  in  a 
marooned  space  ship  and  our  captain  was  radioing  out  the 
message.  No  time  to  lose,  Almighty  One.  Listen  carefully  we 
beseech  You  to  every  detail.  He  prayed  for  the  village.  For 
the  sick  ones.  For  the  babies.  For  the  family  whose  son  had 
run  away  to  Tetuan.  For  the  herds  and  the  crops.  For  serenity. 
For  the  sinners.  For  some  improvement  in  the  economic  situa- 
tion because  now  that  the  villages  had  electricity  and  radios 
they  no  longer  called  upon  the  musicians  from  Joujouka  and 
You,  All  Wise  One,  know  that  our  only  means  of  barter  is  our 
music  which  we  offer  in  praise  of  You.  And  the  rich  men  hire 
European  bands  from  Tangier  and  Casablanca  and  no  longer 
wish  to  hear  our  ancient  music.  And  we  have  no  medicine. 
Everyone  was  nodding  and  murmuring  agreement.  And  we 
wish  to  keep  our  children  here  in  the  pure  mountains  but 
unless  You  help  us.  All  Compassionate  One,  we  cannot  keep 
them  here  hungry  and  they  will  go  to  the  city  and  forget  their 
purity.  And  turning  to  us  he  prayed  for  Hamri,  beloved  cousin 
who  had  raised  the  dirhans  to  pay  for  the  assembly  hall  and 
for  Brion  Gysin,  the  European  who  had  become  brother,  and 
for  the  fine  American  and  his  beautiful  wife  who  dances  so 
graceful  may  they  receive  the  blessings.  As  he  prayed  he 
flipped  out  in  trance  and  was  bobbing  up  and  down  and 
pounding  his  right  hand  in  his  left  for  emphasis  and  all  the 
people  were  bobbing  with  him  and  we  were  too. 

He  finished  and  we  all  sank  back  against  the  cushions  with 
a  sense  of  perfect  peace.  I  leaned  forward  and  asked  Hamri 
to  ask  him  to  pray  for  a  very  special  personal  favor  which 
Rosemary  and  I  wished  God  to  consider  that  we  would  be 
blessed  with  children  and  his  face  exploded  in  pleasure  and 
the  musicians  shook  their  heads  in  happy  support  and  then 
he  started  to  pray  leaning  towards  us  and  how  he  prayed!  With 
every  fibre  in  his  thin  wiry  body  and  great  love  was  in  the  room. 

Hamri  stood  and  beckoned  us  to  the  door.  Everyone  filed 
out  to  the  porch  of  the  meeting  room  and  nine  musicians 
squatted  against  the  wall  and  pulled  out  from  wondrously 
patched  bags  wooden  horns  and  screwed  in  reed  mouthpieces 
and  began  tuning  up  the  raitas,  an  instrument  with  a  high  rasp- 
ing spine  chilling  vibration.  Jellabahs  over  their  heads  this  band 
of  tiny  elves  piped  up  one  note  and  kept  it  going,  all  nine, 
louder  and  louder  until  it  was  a  laser  beam  zeroed  in  our  brains 


146 


and  there  was  that  moment  of  near  panic  when  it  was  too 
much  sound,  too  loud,  too  piercing  membrane  stretching  and 
there  was  nothing  to  do  but  open  up  and  go  with  it,  thin  razor 
sharp  scalpel  of  energy  searching  our  brain.  I  had  the  feeling 
that  if  I  tried  to  struggle  it  would  sear  and  scar  my  cerebral 
cortex,  but  relaxing  it  became  a  healing  shower  zipping  heads 
clean  of  any  hang-up. 

Suddenly  a  wild  shouting  behind  us  and  leaping  down  the 
hill  to  the  fire  was  an  eight-foot-tall  monster,  hairy  arms  and 
chest,  hairy  legs,  huge  bare  human  feet,  brimmed  hat  crumpled 
over  its  hidden  face.  One  great  bound  took  him  over  the 
fire  and  down  to  musicians.  He  was  flailing  away  with  thin 
branches  of  willow  leaves  leaping,  twisting,  whirling  wolf  rush, 
gorilla  lunge,  legs  apart,  pelted  arms  waving,  body  convulsed 
In  rhythmic  trembling,  energy  racking  and  cording  his  muscles, 
sweat  pouring  and  the  raitas  screamed  and  from  the  shadows 
floated  Mohammed,  silken  veils  trailing  up  to  the  beast  and 
colliding  like  extraplanetary  mutant  creatures  they  danced 
copulatory,  the  one  beautiful  boy-girl  and  the  other  man-ani- 
mal and  with  drumming  of  hooves  and  rush  of  wind  Pan 
Dionysius  swept  down  from  the  mountain  and  tongues  of  fire- 
light and  the  energy  of  God  struck  down  thunderbolts,  phallic 
mushrooms  butted  up  from  damp  earth  and  flower  yonis  grew 
on  shadowed  hillside  and  my  arms  went  around  Rosemary  and 
we  were  made  one  divine  animal  soul  and  rockets  burst  spurt- 
ing color  flame  and  radiant  light  dazzled  our  eyes  and  Bou 
Jeloud  horned  God  of  herd  pasture  and  vine  and  root  and 
seed  whirled  and  leaped  into  the  fire  and  disappeared. 

We  slept  that  night  blankets  on  the  wooden  floor,  slept  in 
each  other  arms  until  sunlight  filtered  through  the  closed 
wooden  shutter.  Hamri  knocked  and  entered.  Soon  eggs  sput- 
tering on  the  burners  and  tea  and  goats'  milk  and  fresh  fruit. 

We  moved  to  the  porch  where  sitting  we  received  in  loving 
dignity  our  music  brothers.  Each  one  came  softly,  robed, 
carrying  old  patched  pouch  from  which  they  took  their  pipe 
and  kif  knives.  Old  AM  squatted  over  board  and  started  cutting, 
slicing,  chopping  with  careful  precision,  and  we  smoked.  Then 
we  were  initiated  into  the  musicians'  union,  presented  with 
bamboo  flutes  and  drums  and  carved  sticks  and  raitas  and 
embraced.  "We'll  have  to  wire  Rolling  Stone  that  we've  got 
our  union  cards." 

We  were  brought  Moroccan  mountain  blankets,  white,  fine, 
lacy  table-cloth-thin  but  warmer  than  fur. 

Our  instruments  were  lashed  onto  mules  and  we  were  lifted 


147 


up  to  the  saddles,  huge,  luxurious  sideways  easy-chairs  from 
which  we  leaned  down  farewells  to  our  brothers  clustered 
around  smiling  with  great  love  and  touching  hands  to  forehead 
and  heart.  This  is  your  village.  You  are  tribal  brothers.  Yet 
this  is  our  village  and  we  are  your  brothers. 

The  trip  down  the  mountain.  Sitting  stoned  on  soft  lounge 
chairs  softly  jogged  by  caressing  sea  motion  of  mule  we  gazed 
out  across  the  valley.  Running  beside  me  was  a  grinning  bare- 
foot kid.  Switching  the  mule,  running  to  the  orchard  to  gather 
fresh  figs,  whopping  it  up  and  I  realized  with  a  shock  that 
this  tousledhair  Huck  Finn  was  Mohammed,  Apollo-Venus  of 
our  night  of  magic.  And  the  sturdy  Tom  Sawyer,  trotting  bare- 
foot by  Hamri's  donkey,  was  Bou  Jeloud. 

Rosemary  turned  back  and  smiled  and  we  came  back 
blessed  and  renewed  by  the  love  of  God  and  His  Servants,  the 
Musicians  of  Joujouka. 


148 


STAR  TRIP 
FORRO 

ff  And  Venus  was  our 
guiding  light  and 
all  that  we  beheld 
was  love.^^ 


We  unrolled  time  tape  winter  sixty  nine  high,  high  in  moun- 
tain desert,  touching  clear  cool  blue  sky  so  close  to  sun. 
Lazy  sensual  morning  sunshine  bed  massaging  smooth  warm 
lying  lawn  grass  yoga  fresh  fruit  reading  climbing  peaks  where 
Father  Hawk  glidly  floats  across  top  ride  calm  king  of  moun- 
tain. Watching  sun  redden  dusky  sky  and  tiny  lights  of  brother 
car  moving  slowly  up  valley  road.  Chill  clean  night  air  building 
fire,  get  high.  Meditation  drumming  softly.  Rosemary  softly 
cooking  dinner.  Candles  and  the  fleecy  soft  sleeping  bag. 

Water  spring  from  aspen  grove  high  above  us  pure  ice 
crystal.  Electric  generator  cranked  by  hand  bumped  current 
ninety  minutes  before  steaming  up.  Two  albums  are  the  music 
ration. 

Once  a  week,  as  God  suggests,  we  offer  twenty-four  hours 
to  the  visionary  trip.  Before  fasting,  all  day  purification  house 
and  mind.  At  sunset  Rosemary  place  sacra-mental  tabs  in  my 
mouth  and  I  place  come-union  tabs  in  her  mouth  eyes  pledg- 
ing love  we  part  this  plane. 

Candle  light  dancing  Amitaba  Buddha,  room  filled  jewel 
warmth.  Yoga  body  warm  river  fire.  Reading  sacred  books. 
Peace.  Union. 

At  some  space-time  for  music  float  to  power-house  crank  up 
generator  and  place  one  record  on  the  turn-table.  Our  winter 
guru  Jimi  Hendrix. 

Well,  someone  stepped  from  the  crowd 

He  was  nineteen  miles  high. 

He  shouts  "We're  tired  and  disgusted;  so  we  paint 

red  through  the  sky." 
I  say,  "The  truth  is  straight  ahead 
So  don't  burn  yourselves  instead. 
Tryin'  to  learn  Instead  of  burn 
Hear  what  I  say." 

So  I  finally  rode  away 

But  I'll  never  forget  that  day 

'Cause  when  I  reached  the  valley 

I  looked  down  'cross  the  way 

A  giant  boat  from  space 

Landed  with  eerie  grace 

And  came  and  takin'  all  the  dead  away. 
Sooner  or  greater  Rosemary's  announcement  that  flying 
saucers  have  arrived.  Lying  sprawled  on  bed,  her  nose  pressed 
to  window  scans  southern  sky.  Oh  beloved  look.  See  it  flash- 
ing colors,  rainbows,  see  the  purple  flames  pulsing  celestial 
sea  anemone.  Coming  to  her  sight,  sliding  along  smooth  ivory 


151 


soft  arm,  Oh  yes,  it's  come.  What  do  we  do  now?  Be  pure. 
Wait.  Hope.  Om.  We  are  here.  Will  you  take  us  now?  We  are 
ready.  Love  you.  Well  come.  Wise  outer  space  father  and 
mother  humming  energy  homing  power. 

Oh  there's  one  for  sure.  It's  moving  toward  us  whooshing 
speed  of  life,  green-blue  eye  God. 

Venus.  Just  a  planet  sprung  from  foam  of  sea.  Eccentricity  of 
her  orbit  smaller  than  any  heavenly  body.  Star  wife  star  mother 
star  woman  graceful  shines  most  brilliant  body  In  the  sky. 
Planet  of  love.  (Libra  loves  Taurus.)  At  her  inferior  conjunction 
she  approaches  closer  than  any  other  planet.  Closer  love. 
Oh  did  you  plan  It  this  way?  Evening  star.  Only  such  sacrifices 
as  flowers,  incense  made  to  Astarte.  She  approaches  closer. 
She  comes  at  twilight  feathering  dove  swan  down  myrtle, 
poppy,  rose  light.  Heavenly  body.  Perfect  love. 

JimI  Hendrix  and  sky  black  jewel  ocean  of  stars  twinkling. 
Oh  come,  this  time  for  sure  It's  one.  There!  Stroboscope  flash- 
ing signals  nearer,  nearer,  coming  down  valley  so  close.  Must 
be  a  helicopter  undulating  up  and  down.  Closer  and  closer. 
What  does  it  mean?  Oh  tell  me  husband,  lover,  father,  brother, 
son,  I  frighten  strong.  What  does  it  mean? 

New  Life.  New  Life  beloved.  From  infinite  trillion  vacuum 
distance  of  far-flung  galaxies  It  comes  to  us.  New  Life. 

Next  morning  Rosemary  is  calm  practical  earthly  wise. 

My  love  you  must  learn  astronomy.  TO  ACQUIRE  SOME 
APPRECIATION  OF  THE  MEANING  OF  THE  SKIES  Yes.  Eyes 
longtime  wanted.  Remember  at  Millbrook  lying  on  the  soft 
rotting  shingles  of  bowling  alley  roof  summer  nights  asking 
who  knows  the  stars.  ONE  MUST  MAKE  THE  FRIENDSHIP  OF 
THE  STARS.  Hundred  pilgrims,  saddhus,  magi,  magicians  come 
but  not  one  knows  the  stars.  WATCH  THEIR  MAJESTIC  MARCH 
THROUGH  THE  NIGHT  Why  not?  AND  THE  SLOW  SEASONAL 
ADVANCE  OF  CONSTELLATION  AFTER  CONSTELLATION  Be- 
cause we  would  never  know  if  a  flying  saucer  came  unless  we 
chart  learn.  Heavens  above  FROM  EAST  TO  WEST  THROUGH- 
OUT THE  YEAR.  When  heaven  ship  comes,  we  must  be  able 
to  spot  it  because  no  star  is  supposed  to  be  there.  TO  KNOW 
ORION,  SIRIUS,  TAURUS  AND  THE  PLEIADES  Find  old  Jackie 
Leary  high  school  star  book.  Clocking  stars  by  fist  and  com- 
pass. Reading  by  orange  firelight.  Locate  date  and  hour  m 
table.  Turn  to  correct  page  and  clock  the  stars  with  fist  and 
compass.  SIRUS:  6  o'clock,  four  fists.  AS  LEADING  ROLES 
OF  THE  WINTER  SKY.  Rush  out  cottage,  shouting  6  o'clock 
four  fists.  6  o'clock,  face  direct  south,  hold  arm  directly  front  of 
eye  and  sight  four  fists  angle  up.  Fist  covers  bright  bright  star. 


152 


SIRIUS!  OR  LYRA,  WITH  ITS  VEGA,  CYGNUS,  WITH  ITS 
NORTHERN  CROSS  introduce  Rosemary  Sirius.  Consult  list: 
ARCTURUS,  3  o'clock,  three  fists.  SCORPIO,  AND  ANTARES 
AS  THE  QUIETER  LEADERS  OF  THE  SOFTER  SKIES  OF 
SUMMER.  Rush  out,  face  east  move  three  fists  to  heavy  yellow 
gleaming  orb.  ARCTURUS. 

Then  the  Zodiac. 

There  truly  is  a  belt  of  constellations  high  In  southern  sky. 
GIVES  ONE  A  SENSE  OF  KINSHIP  WITH  NATURE  WHICH 
MAKES  A  KNOWLEDGE  OF  THEIR  MOVEMENTS  Stately  red 
Taurus  with  cow-head  horns  triangle  ruby  Aldebaran.  And 
Castor-Pollux  ambi-sexual  twins,  and  Leo  shaped  like  question 
mark  punctuated  by  majestic  Regulus.  MORE  SIGNIFICANT 
AND  EVEN  LIFE  And  glorious  twisted,  jeweled  Scorpius,  bale- 
ful, enticing  fiery  red  Antares  A  LITTLE  MORE  WORTH  WHILE. 

Astrology  is  not  musty-book  game  fierce  intellectual  occult 
women  and  pasty-faced  ministerial  pedants.  Your  sun-sign 
shines  above  you  In  the  jeweled  belt  six  month  of  the  year. 
And  when  your  sun-sign  rests  behind  the  daily  hills,  hers  is 
night  there.  All  your  friends  wheel  in  stately  rhythm  along  belt 
and  moon  and  sun  follow  same  narrow  path  across  the  sky 
and  along  the  perfectly  predictable  roadway  of  chronology 
wander  planets. 

What  is  that  very  bright  star  doing  in  the  middle  of  Scorpio? 
Where?  Right  there  next  to  Antares.  Rush  to  house  to  check. 
MARS:  8  o'clock  four  fists.  Of  course.  That  bright  bright  star 
intruding  in  familiar  form  of  Scorpio  Is  MARS.  Mars  is  in 
Scorpio.  See  it. 

Eye  see  Jupiter  in  Leo;  book  says  in  Cancer.  That's  because 
the  books  report  the  situation  two  thousand  years  ago.  In  the 
last  two  millennia  earth  wobble  off  thirty  degrees.  Which  do 
you  believe?  Aristotle  says  a  horse  has  twenty-four  teeth  but 
I  count  thirty-two.  Believe  which  ever  makes  you  feel  better 
and  helps  you  more. 

Stand  looking  south.  Imagine  circle  of  the  Zodiac.  Got  it? 
Now  the  sun  is  down  there  to  the  right,  out  of  sight,  below 
the  horizon.  Right.  And  the  moon  is  up  there,  and  Venus  just 
setting.  What  you  are  looking  at  is  the  horoscope  chart  of  the 
person  who  Is  born  this  very  minute.  Astrology  is  not  a  paper 
and  pencil  game.  It's  a  jewel-encrusted  clear  night,  cool  pure 
air  in  lungs,  see  them,  touch  them,  feel  their  vibration  living 
observational  psychedelic  seeance. 

So  start  star  yoga.  Simple  ritual.  Everynight  just  after  sunset 
walk  outside  and  watch  for  nightly  television  show.  Old  friends 
appear  as  certain  celestial  clock  works.  Each  night  wide-span- 


153 


ning  panorama  shifts  about  one  degree.  Each  month  a  new 
Zodiac  constellation  drops  over  the  western  sunset  hill.  Good- 
bye Gemini.  Eastern  greetings  Sagittarius. 

The  initiation  period  is  one  year.  One  quick  trip  around  the 
sun  and  then  the  show  begins  again.  High  Gemini. 

As  we  travel  around  the  globe  of  earth  we  find  the  angle 
different  and  realize  how  we  have  traveled.  The  stars  become 
compass  and  clock.  Driving  nights  we  cite  direction  from  the 
heavens.  We  tell  time  by  glancing  watchly  above.  Belong  to 
the  oldest  fraternity  of  men  who  look  up.  Babylonian  priests. 
Libyan  shepherds.  Carthaginian  sailors. 

Starry  heavens  become  familiar  as  your  garden.  Now  we 
know  when  if  a  stranger  comes  to  visit.  What  is  that  brilliant 
intruder  sliding  through  Cassiopeia?  Russian  satellite.  What 
is  that  diamond  rivalling  Vega?  The  midnite  TWA  flight  from 
L.A. 

Just  at  sunset  Rosemary  puts  on  fleece  lined  jacket  and 
we  walk  hand-in-hand  down  valley.  As  dusk  falls  we  turn  back. 
First  comes  Mars  over  western  there.  Where  is  it?  Pointing 
finger  creates  glitter  jewel.  There!  Now  right  above  we  create 
Jupiter.  Point  to  right  place  and  oh  there,  the  steady  white 
light  suddenly  flashes  into  view.  In  five  minutes  we'll  create  a 
star  over  there  and  call  it  Sirius.  We  walk  slowly  back  pointing 
to  the  blue-pink-purpling  sky  and  literally  create  the  heavenly 
constellations. 

We  unrolled  the  time  tape  winter  sixty  nine  high,  high  in 
mountain  desert.  The  darkness  night  without  form  cradled  hold- 
ing within  the  immense  void  arms  intwined  and  lazy  sensual 
sunshine  we  called  morning.  And  there  were  lights  in  the 
firmament  of  the  heavens  to  divide  the  day  from  the  night  and 
to  be  signs  for  seasons  and  for  days  and  years.  And  Venus  was 
our  guiding  light  and  all  that  we  beheld  was  love. 


154 


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'^Dr.  Leary's  imprisonment 
is  an  act  of  insult  to  Ikience, 
Liberty,  Common  dense. 
Freedom,  Academy,  Fhilos- 
opiiy.  Medicine,  Psychol- 
ogy as  an  Art,  and  Poetry 
as  a  tradition  of  human 

mind-vision."— Allen  Giisberg 

On  the  morning  of  September  13,  1970, 
Timothy  Leary  escaped  from  the  California 
prison  where  he  had  served  seven  months 
of  a  possible  ten-year  sentence  for  pos- 
session of  marijuana.  This  book  is  Timothy 
Leary's  account  of  that  prison  experience, 
written  as  he  was  living  through  it.  It  is  a 
strikingly  original  work,  in  which  dramatic 
narrative  and  spiritual  reflection,  humor 
and  anger,  intense  emotion  and  philoso- 
phical detachment  are  inextricably  inter- 
mingled. 

'^What's  going  on  in  his  head?"  Allen  Gins- 
berg asked  himself.  And  he  answered: 
"Well,  jail's  honed  him  down  to  rib  &  soul." 
These  are  "rib  &  soul"  notes,  honed  down 
to  the  bitter  truth. 

Photo:  United  Press  International  Printed  In  U.S.A.